Finding a Path
by Aydub
Summary: Aydub is a "lost cause" a "traitor" in the eyes of the goddess. Making a terrible mistake he must find a way to repent for his sin. Everything is starting to fall into place but its about to be ripped out of his hands forever.
1. Hearing the voice

This is how I'd picture my mabinogi life. I owe it to my friends and my RP family to help me along in my mabi life. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Aydub, are you paying attention?" Craig calls over to me. I haven't been paying attention lately becuase of my mother. She's always getting into some sort of trouble...It annoys me sometimes but she's my mother.

_**Just deal with it, she's fine.**_

A shoe hits my head, "OW! Dammit Craig!" I glare over at him. Craig is my teacher if you haven't noticed. He's the paladin teacher here in Emain Macha and has been teaching me for a while. His harsh look makes me squirm.

_**God, why do I even have to do this?!**_

I sigh and walk over and continue my training. I've been here for months now and still nothing. I rarely get to see my family in Tir Chronaill. My twin brother, Koriko, is the fashion "diva" of the family so he works in Emain Macha with that Ailionoa lady. Sure she's beautiful but she's more dimwitted than Olsa.

"Aydub," Craig walks over to me, " you look like you're having some issues thinking. Do you want to go home for a day or two?" His eyes are kind and worried.

"Yeah...That'd be nice, I'm missing my mother..." I don't know how my dark eyes looked, all I know is that he gave me some food and told me to come back later in the week. I walk into town to fetch my dimwitted brother.

I walk by Olsa's weapon shop and she waves at me, I wave back at her. She's been really nice to me during the months I've been there. As soon as I get to Ailionoa's clothing shop I see her and Koriko talking and laughing.

_**She's too old you idiot, we're only 15.**_

Koriko sees me and he smiles so big I think his mouth is going to fall off. Walking over I throw Ailionoa a death glare.

Koriko just smiles, his blonde hair and bright blue eyes are really to much for me. Even though we're twins we look completely different. He has shiny blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, his bright skin shimmers in the sun, he is mom's pride and joy. As for me, I have pitch black hair and dark dirt colored eyes, my skin is "dirty" as it seems I've just been revived from the dead.

I look at him with one eye brow raised, "We're going home for a day or two, so pack up and we'll get on Jaerla and head out." He obviously doesn't want to leave but I guess the look on my face told him I wasn't going to leave without him.

I wait for him on the outskirts of town petting my horse. She neighs happily as I feed her some carrots. When Koriko finally comes we hop on Jaerla and ride off. Since I hate taking a long time for trips I take short cuts through the valleys and grasslands.

Its night and we're in Tir Chronaill. I dispell my horse and Koriko and I walk among the familiar lands that we, or I, used to call home. Koriko rushes off to our house and bursts through the door. I hear the voices inside and I feel...warm.

_**Snap out of it, you went to Emain Macha for a reason.**_

I walk in through to door and sit down in the kitchen. Yukisnowchan rushes over and hugs me, "Brother! You've been gone for a long time. I was getting really sad!" She's my youngest sister, I love her to death.

_Don't forget what happened here._

My smile dissapears. I hug Yuki half-heartedly and get up. I hear the door open and my mother, Diya, walks into the kitchen. She mumbles something, "Tarlach?" I'm confused, why is she talking about _him._

"What mother?" I question. She looks up, "Ay! You're all home!" She wraps her arms around me and squeezes me tight. I hug her back. She looks almost...broken down, worried. She ruffles my hair and walks away.

_You shouldn't let that get to you, it's just an adopted family._

I shake my head and sneak out the back. Ever since my father, Zero, dissapeared looking for Tarlach I never felt like loving my family again. Sure they took me in after my old father had left me. After that I loved my family. They are all so weird and loving, a little to much for me but yeah.

_You should leave you don't belong with them anymore._

I shake the feeling. I've been a paladin without telling my family that I'd already completed my training, not even Craig knew. After I'd become a paladin I started hating Morrighan. Since when had she done anything for me? All she did was lead me into a hell filled world that Errin would become.

I walk to the dock and sit down. My clothing becoming wet in the water. I didn't care, I just wanted to be alone. I lean back and see Yuki's face, it's wet with tears I think. I turn around and sure enough she's crying. She sits down next to me and buries her head in between her knees. Her blue tiara seemed dark and depressing and her outfit I'd giving her months ago was limp and crinkled.

_Don't care about her, all paladins and soon to be paladins can never be trusted._

Taking my arm around her, I pull her close and hug her. She was shaking...why?

"Yuki-chan?"

"*sniff* I'm okay, just Firos was being rude and I broke up with him."

_**Firos**_

"Ignore Firos. Yuki-chan, you need to realize he was always a jerk from the start." She laughed and that made me smile. She was one of the only people that could make me laugh or smile. I told her to go home, it was late and that she was still really young. I reached into my robe and pulled out a pure blue rose, I put it in her hands and she smiled. Skipping off she hummed merrily. Maybe having a family wasn't so bad after all.

I walk into the house and see everyone still awake. They don't notice me.

"She still isn't home, did she go to Emain Macha again?"

"I don't think so Ckika, mom doesn't go anywhere without telling us first."

"Yeah your right Yuki. Maybe we should just wait." I'm now officially confused, why is Mom gone?

"Guys?" I butt into the conversation and every stops and looks at me," Errrr, maybe she just went on a walk or something and got lost."

"Yeah, Mom isn't the type to do that Aydub. Now why don't you just go along and sleep with Koriko." That officially irritated me but, I know better than to let Ckika annoy me. I shrug and walk to my room. Koriko is asleep and falling off his bed at that. Crawling up the ladder to the loft area of the room I close my eyes and see Mom's face. What if she did get lost? What if bandits or fomors attacked her? I shake my head, "Nah...Mom's strong..." With that I close my eyes and fall asleep.

_"Daddy!" A young girl cries out and hugs a dark figure._

_"It's okay Triona." The dark figure says, his helmet is covered in light snow._

_"Ruairi! I've missed you!" The girl hugs a red haired man. Ruairi? Isn't that one of the lost warriors?_

_"Who are you?" The figure askes a woman in armor, "Well? Answer me!"_

_I realize that the woman is my mother and that she's as confused as I am. I try to call out but my voice isn't working._

_Morrighan is letting you see this Aydub, she's letting you feel bad that you cannot help your own mother._

_"Mom!!" I scream out, the woman's head turns to where I am and then the vision dissapears._

_You shouldn't be worried, she'll be fine, maybe. Just join me and forget this life._

_**Shut up! Just shut up you stupid armor!**_


	2. Aydub makes a mistake

In this Chapter of "Finding a path" Aydub makes a terrible mistake. He's left lonely and confused.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Remember that she never did anything for you. She left you to die. She used you to find those people and took away your father._

"Ah!" I wake up in a cold sweat. I look to my right and see Koriko snoozing and snoring with that happy look on his face.

"Gah," I rub the sleep from my eyes, "that was a bizzare dream...Ah well, not gonna kill me." I get up and get dressed. Hearing voices down the hall I figured that Mom must have been making breakfast.

_Just leave they will never notice! You've stayed to long, now leave!_

"Shush, I won't leave yet, now shut up." I walk to the kitchen and find Ckika, one of my other many sisters, at the table. She looks at me funny and goes back to looking at the table. Thinking nothing of it I walk into the yard to find Yuki and Starlin playing with dirt and using ice bolt spells to freeze them. I walk out of the yard and head to see Malcom. He always had a way of making me laugh with his stupid jokes. I walk into the shop and see him staring at a pic of Nora, he REALLY loved that woman but she was a clueless lady as was Ailionoa and Olsa. I hear him sigh and put the picture down.

_Just leave already! This place is making you soft again!_

I hit my side and put a smile on my face. Malcom looks over and his face turns a bright shade of red," H-how long have you been standing there Aydub?!" He sounded either panicked or embarassed...maybe both.

"I just walked in Malcom. Were you doing something like, adult rated or something?" I laugh. His face is about the shade of a ripe tomato, like REALLY ripe. He stands up and adjusts his apron and walks over and pats my head. An irritated look spreads across my face Malcom took a step back to avoid infuriating me further. I look at his hats and clothes just like I did when I was younger, alot younger.

"Aydub, why do I get this feeling I've met you before?" He sits down and crosses his legs. My hands clentch into fists. He raises an eye brow and opens his mouth to speak. I set a hat I was looking at down and leave the shop.

_See? This place remembers to much, you need to leave!_

I reach into my robe and look at the dark armor. It doesn't have a face nor a mouth but I swear its giving me a wicked smile, "Just shut up, I'm leaving now..." I shove the armor into my robe and storm over to my house. Koriko is wide awake and the entire house seemed empty, I guess everyone was at classes. Koriko runs over to me and a huge smile breaks across his face, "Aydub, are we going back today?! Well are we!?"

"Yeah, we're going. Dad still isn't back so it doesn't seem like we should stay."

We pack up and head down to Emain Macha...I wish I could have given Mom a hug beofre we left.

_She's to pure you need to realize only certian members are friends._

We reach Dunbarton and we stop by Nereys to repair my bows and grab arrows. After that we head to Osna Sail, the wolf infested mountian ridge. Its night time and we're walking through the area when we hear a growl. I turn my head around to see a sheep wolf, "Koriko, I want you to run alright?" When I look back Koriko is already bolting for Emain Macha. I take out my bow and put an arrow into place, "You just asked for a death wish wolf." He charges but I hit him with a barrage of arrows. I smile in my victory and pick up the gold he dropped, "Oh nice, 1,000 gold pieces. Huh?" I get hit from the behind. Falling to the ground I look over, "W-what the hell is that?!" A bear the size of a raccoon! A friggin raccoon! He's faster than regular bears and is alot more powerful.

_Let me help, I'll give you the power you require. Listen to me Aydub!_

I hit my side and ignore the armor. I load an arrow and crouch down, "Hit the mark" I whisper. I release the arrow and it flies through the air. **RAAAAAAAAAAWR!** Oh crap, I hit the little thing but I see that it's barely injured. I try to stand up but I get knocked down again. SNAP! "Gah!" I clutch my arm, "I-it's broken?! No!!" I turn over and the bear hits me and I fall over the cliff side. _**What now? Am I going to die?**_ Crash! My vision blurred I see the mini bear staring down at me with those beady little eyes. I hear yells and hollers from a few hundred feet above me. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Craig I think that whoever was here ran off...or fell off this cliff."

"I hope your wrong this time." I can't see all I can do is lie still writhing in pain and hear people talking.

"Down here! I think I see him!" Then nothing...

_"Aydub, I haven't betrayed you or abused your power. Come back to us please."_

_"Why should I? The world I used to know is going to turn into the fomor paradise..."_

_"We can stop that, listen to us and don't do anything that you'll regret young paladin."_

_"Paladin!? Don't you ever call me that! I hate being one of those people!"_

_"Aydub, I can see you're beyond help. Please take some time to think, for me and for Errinn"_

A warm burst of light hits my body, "Huh?" I look around. It's my room in Emain Macha! I try to sit up but an instant pain in my side makes me lie down again.

"Aydub? Are yooooou awake??" Olsa pokes her head in my doorway,"I maaade some...um...food for youuuuu." I smile contently as Olsa walks in with a tray of my favorite food, she's a moron but she's really kind and helpful. She props up my pillows and leans me up so I'm upright. I feel pretty pitiful as she feeds me but, I'm in so much pain I can't do anything.

"Hey Olsa, thanks for...well being nice to me."

"Its ooooooooookay, I think youuuuuuuuur reaaaaaaally coooool Aydub." I yawn and she lays me back down and puts the sheets over my shoulders, "Have sweeeeet dreams Aydub." She kisses my forehead lightly and tip toes out of the room, which is kind of hard for her to do because she's wearing metal boots. As soon as she closes the door I fall asleep.

_"Aydub? You okay dear?" that voice...it's familiar._

_"Yeah, I'm okay! But Koriko shoved me down the hill." A-am I a little kid again?!_

_"Oh, you poor dear," the woman kisses my forehead and hugs me, violet hair falls against my face, "Its okay, Mama's here."_

_I laugh...I haven't laughed like that since...since I was adopted by Diya and Zero..._

_"Are they playing nice, Diya?"_

_"Not really but what do you expect from twin boys?" Diya...my mom..._

_"Haha, sing them a song and they'll calm down." Zero...my absent father._

_"Okay." Diya sings a song that calmed me and Koriko down everytime._

_Wake up Aydub, you've been asleep for a while you dolt!_

I wake up clutching my side, the armor! Where's the armor!? I look around and see my robe hanging up, the armor is in there...I think. Even though I'm in agonizing pain I stand up, and walk...errrr...stumble over to my robe I almost fall down but I cling to my robe. I reach into the part where I kept it. Pulling out the dark metal armor I feel my strength returning.

_Just listen to me Aydub, we're destined to be together for the rest of our lives._

I smile evily as I look at the armor. I feel the armor bonding with my body already, its different than the other times, it's actually bonding with me! When I realize what's happening I try to shake it loose but my arm is already engulfed in the armor, "Oh god! Get off! Get off of me!!!"

_It's to late you fool, your going to be my slave for the rest of your life, muhahahahaahah._

My eyes widen at the mistake I just made, "No I want more time! Please!"

_We're already bonding. You cannot escape me now!_

I feel the tears running down my cheeks, for months I've been deciding weather to take the route to destroy Morrighan or not. Now I realize that I really was a lost cause, a fool in the Goddess's eyes. She did help me and I betrayed her by holding the armor with my bare hands. The top part of my body is already in the black armor, it glints and feels evil. I put my hands to my face but pull them back instantly. Cold as ice... I hear footsteps comming from the stair case. _**No! Not now Olsa! Please God no! For the love of Cichol don't let her come in!**_ Knock, knock, knock, "Aydub? Are yooooooouuu alright? I heaaaaard you screaming."

"I-I'm fine Olsa! Geh, d-don't come in! I-I'll be fine!!"

"Aydub, you don't sound like you'll be fine. I'm cooooomming iiiiiiiin." The door knob turns slowly I look down, my entire body is covered in the black armor, the only part left is my head. The sound of a platter falling behind me startles me I turn around to see Olsa's face printed with horror and sadness, her hands at the sides of her face, "Aydub....Why?!"

"Olsa," my voice is changing, its not a 15 year old, its accompanied by a darker voice almost metallic, "h-help me!" My vision dissapears and all I hear is Olsa scream and a large crash.

_We are now one Aydub, one now and forever! Muhahahaha!_

_**Oh god...I screwed up big.**_


	3. Walking a Lonely Path

Chirp chirp chirp. I open my eyes and see that a few birds are fluttering in the trees. It dawns on me, TREES?! I struggle to my feet and look around. _**I'm...I'm in a forest? Ugh, my body is aching...Wait, shouldn't the armor be talking to me? What even happened last night?! **_

"I think that he ran off this way." Craig! He can help me! "I can't believe that he'd turn to that...I knew he was different but, why would he do that?"

"Craig, he was pulled into it by Cichol, after that he's beyond help. As Olsa said his body was already engulfed in the armor."

_**Wait, a-are they talking about me? Oh god, that DID happen...**_

"Tyron, I think he must be hiding, get the other paladins and search the area." Craig commanded.

"Sir!" With a salute and a turn Tyron ran off._** No, I'm...I'm a fugitive now. If they catch me I'll be killed. I royally messed up now. I'm a Dark Knight now and I can never go back. Mom! What about my family?!**_ Snap. My eyes widen and I whirl around to find a sword tip against my throat, "Aydub, so you are here." I'm staring Craig in the face, Aodhan is behind him with Tyron. His face is sad and hard with anger. Figures, I was apparently one of his "best" students and I let him down by going the path of "evil". I don't want to get hurt but I guess its enevitable.

Not remembering what the hell happened after I confronted Craig and the other two men I found myself sitting in an old crumbling house.

"Damn you Morrighan, you're the one that made me do this!" I slam my fist on the wall and get hit in the head by a brick, "Ow! Oh goddess...." I lean my head against my knees. My throat is dry, my eyes burn and I'm left even more hopeless than before.

_You brought this upon yourself Aydub. I am not to blame._

_**What? What are you talking about? I didn't blame you!**_

_You did Aydub, I am Morrighan._

_**...I-I'm sorry, just I'm confused.**_

"I'm talking to myself just great." My voice quivering and muffled from my legs.

"Aydub, look up boy." I look up and my eyes widen. It couldn't be. It SHOULDN'T be.

"Morrighan." My voice sounding of hatred and concern. Her black hair whips around her face, and her pale skin shimmers in the moonlight. I look down and sigh, why is she here anyway. Everyone in Emain Macha knows I'm a Dark Knight now, and soon everyone in Uladh will know. She's right, I DID bring this upon myself.

"Aydub, although I'm dissapointed in your decision I accept it." Her voice...it's calm. I stare at the grassy covered stone and take a deep breath.

"This is a dream." I say bluntly, " You aren't here and you AREN'T talking to me. So just leave me be. I'll take my life of hell already."

"Tsk tsk tsk. Aydub, I want to try to help you." A warm hand slips under my chin and lifts my head up to her face. Closed eyes seem to(This is going to sound REALLY stupid but ya know)be gazing straight at me. My body is melting, I feel warm and happy. Her lips make a small smile so faint you wouldn't know it was there. She leans her head in and whipsers in my ear, "In time everything will fall into place, you'll life will return to normal and you'll be happy again." In a bright flash of light she dissapeared.

"Maybe she's right, maybe I should just wait." I put my head back into my knees and fall asleep.

_Standing in a place where its white and owls fly over head a girl finds herself at the top of a long girl she's familiar, her pink hair is in a side pony tail and her eyes are deep and green. Her soft lips form a kitty like mouth. Her dress is orange with a green sash and green sleeves. She's looking around confused and happy. She looks towards the center and smiles. A flash of light appears and blurs her vision, when she regains her sight she finds a woman with white hair and azure eyes staring at me. She smiles sweetly and the girl walk towards her. "*****, you wish to abandon your current body and start a new life?" The name was blocked out. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm ready to begin a new life without worry and more friends!" She's happy and sad. What happened in her old life? Why would she want to start a new one? "Alright, I'll grant your wish, I hope you have a great new life."_

"Woof?" A dog nuzzles my face.

"Well hi there dog." I felt my hair and it was a mess. I reach into my robe to find my comb but, I'm not wearing my robe, "M-my robe! Where's my robe?" I stand up and I'm in my messenger wear. Guh, its filthy, covered in dirt. The scarf is limp and torn in places and my pants are brown, not black.

"Worthless, bleh, even more worthless." A girl with dusty brown hair and a black and brown dress is hunched over something. I step closer and see that she's taking my stuff out of my robe! The brat!

"Hey! That's my stuff little girl!" She looks at me and I freeze in my steps, her ruby red eyes are souless and she stares at me with a harsh expression, "I-I mean that, I'd like it if you gave my stuff back to me, haha."

"Look, I'm just seeing which of your stuff is worth something, so far nothing of it is." Expressionless and emotionless, she's really ticking me off.

I snatch my robe and pick my stuff up, "Ah geeze," I look at a hole in my robe, "My robe's ripped."

"I can fix that for you." The girl says leaning over my shoulder, "It'll be really easy." Even though she wasn't all that nice and litterally told me my stuff was worthess I couldn't say no. She sat down and sewed up the hole with great work. When she was done she gave it back to me, "It was very easy, but that robe is really cheap." Gah, this girl is getting on my nerves, "Thanks. Um, what's your name by the way?"

"Its Fleta, and this is my dog Rab." The girl Fleta says with a slight smile. Why is she even out here in the middle of...well I don't know, here?

"Nice to meet you Fleta, I'm Aydub."

"Huh, odd name, you some kind of circus performer or something?" Fleta asks combing her hair with her hands.

"Geh...I'm going to forget you just said that. Yes, it's a bizzare name but its my bizzare name." I raise my eye brow a little bit to show my frustration with her. All she does is laugh and start chirping like a bird, like a friggin bird! I sit down on the ground and pet Rab a little, _**Fleta seems to like walking around and making random animal noises. Maybe its just her personality or maybe she's just lonely.**_

"Woof!" Rab barks and turns around a woman stands behind us, "Bark bark!" The woman looks at me with a confused and doubtful look. She doesn't look at me twice before walking over to Fleta to converse with her. Kicking my legs under me I stand up and walk down the path. _**I'll come back sooner or later Fleta, just to talk to you again or maybe to fix my robe.**_

I begin walking down the dirt path hearing a faint voice in my head tell me over and over, _**you cannot go back. You must leave everything behind now, even your family.**_ I shake the voice out. I won't start over, I'll find a way out of this mess and go back...some how.

_**Its dark now and I can't stand the dark in the middle of no where. I KNOW I have to find a town or something but everyone will be looking for me**_._** This officially sucks, you are the biggest idiot Aydub.**_ I hit my head and sat down on the grass, "Why didn't I just stay with my family and be a friggin farmer?" I bury my head inbetween my knees and cry silently. I didn't want it to be this way, but I HAD to just touch the armor... Staring at the night sky I think of my mother, Diya. If only I could tell her what happened to me, if only. I know that the only thing I can do is run for a few months and try to survive without being caught. _**Stand up, you're a man now! You have to be strong, you'll see your family again Aydub!**_ I never noticed it, the voice in my head is a girl's voice, not mine. Shrugging I put it off and head down the path.

I walk into a small town I see a sign saying, "Bangor" I figured it must be that odd place Mother came to sometimes. I walk down a dirt pathway leading to the heart of the small area, "Wow, its like a desert here." I look around, "Huh, I wonder if anyone has directions to Iria or something." I walk down to a few things that look like furnaces and anvils, must be a mining town. Staring curiously at the watermil thing I figure that the furnaces are powered by it moving.

"Hey! Are you a traveler?" I hear a voice behind me. A hand grabs my shoulder and my combat reflexes kick in, I grab the hand and flip the person into the water, "Hey! I was just asking a question geeze." A dark skinned girl with bright blonde hair is sitting where I threw her. Her teal eyes are glaring at me.

"S-sorry lady, just I'm a warrior so you startled me." Looking at my feet I swear I was blushing.

"Oh whatever." She gets up from the water, "I'm Elen, welcome to Bangor!"


	4. Welcome to Bangor! Meet Hishima!

The girl named Elen seems to have forgotten that I threw her into the watermil. She doesn't seem like she's going to murder me or anything so thats good. The town I'm stuck in is called Bangor and the road to Iria is currently blocked off until they get done killing every monster. Elen leads me over to a small area where a door leads into the mountian, or so i thought.

I walk in and find a large muscular man sitting at a stove with an apron saying, "World's best granpa" He has long white hair that is in braids infront of him. He has the same skin tone as Elen, a deep tan. His eyes look straight at me, "Well then Elen, who's this kid?" His voice is gruff and a little bit scary.

"This kid is a traveler, I was thinking we could help him out. He's waiting for the road to Iria to open." She has a smile on her face, what kinda weird 15 year old girl is this???

"Hphm! What is this kid anyway?"

"My name is Aydub and I'm a warrior if you MUST know." I say with a harsh tone. The "Granpa" steps towards me and looms over me quite...scarily.

"Hmm, this one has guts!" He slaps my back, "I like him! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" His laughter seems to rock the house back in forth, "My name is Edern, I'm the blacksmith here. Nice to meet you Aydub."

"T-thanks." Still creeped out from his laughing and looming over me he leads me to a room much like my own in Emain Macha. He tells me that I'll have to do my bit of work around here but its not like I care much anything is better than doing nothing. After a few hours pass I get up and walk outside. The sky is clear as could be and its a little windy, "Well, at least it won't be raining for a while." I whisper to myself. I walk around and walk where the path to Iria is blocked off when I hear huge BOOM! Startled I run to where I heard it, a hand is sticking out from some books and wood. I grab the hand and help the person in there.

"Ah! Thank you so much!" Her hair is purple and in a pony tail with two curls comming from it. Her lips seem to pout and her eyes are a perfect plum purple. She looks about 15 and wears a suit I've seen at Ailionoa's shop, from what memory serves its called a Martial art suit. She has a little bit of a large chest for her age and she looks a little to happy. Before I realize it she's hugging me and shoving her chest in my face. I push away, "Your welcome...uhhh. Who are you?"

"Hehe, I'm Hishima. You new to bangor?" She giggled.

"Yeah...Oh! I'm Aydub. Nice to meet you Hishima." Dumbfounded and REALLY embarrassed I try to walk away when Hishima grabs me, "C'mon Aydub! Let's walk around the town and explore!"

"Ahhhhh, but Edern said I have to-"

"Oh phoey on that old man! He needs to lighten up." She giggles and tows me towards the path way to Iria. She seriously just threw my over the fence and hopped over it. We walk down a place that's way quiet and has grass and what seems like beach sand. Hishima stops and turns around, "I gotta blind fold you for this next part, 'kay?" I nod even though I know its not gonna be fun. Hishima takes my hand and leads me through the pathway. When I feel the texture of the sand change I know that we're not on the path way, "Is that water running?" I ask.

"Yup!" Taking off my blind fold she steps away and lets me look at a vast ocean holding up a setting sun, "Isn't it beautiful?" Her smile is beautiful and her eyes seem serene now. For some reason I can't take my eyes off of her, the sun makes a marvelous color of purple on her hair and makes her eyes glint with brilliance.

"Yeah...yeah its beautiful alright." I sit down on the warm sand with my legs straight out infront of me. I close my eyes and hear a fwump and feel something leaning on me. I open my eyes and see Hishima leaning on me with her head on my shoulder.

"Hey Aydub, are you gonna stay here in Bangor for a while?" Her eyes are closed.

"Yeah, yeah I'll stay as long as I can." I take her hand in mine and hold it in mine. I lean my head on her's and hear her quiet breathing. I close my eyes and fall asleep.

_"Olsa, are you alright?" A man clad in armor asks._

_"I-I'm fine..." She shivers holding onto a scrap of clothing, is that mine?_

_"Olsa, it's not your fault. Its that Cichol." I realize the man is Craig._

_"But, he'd never, he was...oh goddess!" Olsa hugs the scrap of clothing and cries. What is going on?_

_"He brought it upon himself, now every paladin will be after him, including his family." His voice is breaking and he's trying not to cry._

_"Aydub was to nice Craig, he was crying out for help...It wasn't his fault." Me?! Oh geeze now all of Emain Macha and every Paladin is going to come after me. Just great! Wait, does that mean my family is going to come after me?_

_"It's his fault for not destroying it, so he must have thought about turning into a Dark Knight. We have to kill him now." His voice is harsh now, "Someone's here." Craig looks directly at me, am I a ghost or something? _

_"Aydub, I know you're there now come out." I try to speak but my voice won't work, what's going on here?!_

_"Come out," Craig pulls out his sword, "I know you're there!" Swinging his sword at me it hits my side and a patch of blood appears on the floor, "He's here in his dreams!"_

_"C-Craig! Don't huuuuuuurt him!" Olsa cries out as Craig swings at me again hitting my leg. I don't feel anything but I'm losing sight of the dream or vision. I wake up to Hishima shaking me._

Limping back to Elen and Edern's house I think about what happened and why.I walk into the house and attempt to walk into the room I was giving when Edern stops me, "You're injured, what happened?"

"N-nothing, I just fell over onto some rocks outside of town, not a big deal Edern." I say with an assuring voice, but it failed.

"I want to know Aydub, something is different about you. You're not like the others that come into town." I shrug and close my door locking it. I don't want to deal with him or anyone else right now. After bandaging my cuts and lay down I stare at the ceiling thinking about that weird dream, was I actually there? I close my eyes and when I open them again its dawn. **_How long have I been running from the paladins? This is to much for me, I should try to run but I'm scared I'll run into someone._**

Knock, knock, knock. "Aydub? You alive in there, you've been out for 6 days, hellooooooo????" The door knob turns and Hishima tip toes in, "Oh geeze, you look terrible Aydub! Are you sick?" Putting her hand on my forehead and hers she seems confused.

"I'm fine Hishima, really." I don't know what I look like or why her face was confused and dissapointed.

"We need to talk." Saying that she led me out of my room and to the beach. Hishima pestered me to tell her what was wrong and who I was. I told her I was from Tir Chronaill and that it was all she needed to know. She starred directly at me and slapped me. I hold my face and she punches me in the stomach, "You should be able to tell me Aydub, I would tell you if I had a stupid secret." I lay on the ground and Hishima storms off._** You can tell her, you can trust her! Tell her!**_

_**"**_Hishima, I-" My voice it's metallic again like it was at Olsa's. Hishima turns around and stares at me horrified. My body is on fire and I can hardly breathe, "I-I need help Hishima..." The pain increases and I bend back and yell. I hear Hishima's scream and her foot steps running off.

"Hishima! Come back!" I call out in my, well used to be, voice. She turns around and she wants to run, I know it. "I don't know Aydub, I want to help but..." Her voice trails off and she starts crying. I walk over and put my hand on her shoulder, it isn't a soft human hand its that hand of a Dark Knight. I can tell she's scared but she isn't running, "Why don't you run? Aren't you scared by this?" A faint smile flickers across her face. Taking my hand in hers she rubs her cheek on it, "I'm scared that's for sure, but I know that you're a kind person Aydub." I kneel down and hug her. I let her go and walk over to the water to see my reflection. I don't look like the traditional Dark Knight, I look more like the Black Knights. Black Knights are a "promotion" of a Dark Knight, they are like the knights that protect a king or queen. Now I know what Hishima saw, I know that she's scared...

Hishima and I sit down on the beach while I am still transformed. Leaning against me occasionally and hugging me she drifts in and out of sleep. When the sun finally starts to go down I feel tired, more so than I ever have before. I hold my head and watch everything go black. I hear Hishima half whispering half talking, "Aydub? Aydub?! Don't pass out! AYDUB!!" I fall onto the soft beach sand and fall asleep. _**Wake up Aydub! Wake up you goof!**_ "H-Hishima?" I open my eyes lazily, my voice is hoarse and my throat burns.

"Hishima? Aydub have you been drinking the salt water? Its Elen." I stare up at Elen's blonde hair and teal eyes, "Hishima left a little while ago, I litterally had to drag her out of here just to let you get some rest." I look down, I feel exactly the way I had when I woke up after I ran from Craig and Olsa. I tell Elen I don't feel like talking to anyone and she leaves. Now someone knows what I am, I don't know whether to trust Hishima or run for my life again. I hope that everything turns out alright, this is starting to become a living Hell for me...


	5. By My Side

_Alone_

_**Your not alone**_

_Betrayed_

_**Your not betrayed**_

_Lost_

_**Your not lost.**_

The bright morning light shines in through my window, I haven't eaten or slept for 3 days I don't know what is wrong with me. Elen and Edern ask me if I need anything and my repy is, "No, just leave me alone." Why am I being so distant? There isn't a reason for it so why am I like this? Hishima hasn't come by to say anything, is she mad or...or scared? My footsteps are soft and barely noticeable. As I tip toe out of the house I see the morning light. I walk over into the middle of the town and sigh.

"You've been out for a few days Aydub, I was getting worried." A familiar voice behind me.

"Well, depression does that to you, ya know?"

"I-I was scared you weren't going to be yourself, Aydub...I need to ask you something." I hear her voice quivering and breaking.

"Look, "I turn around to face Hishima, "If you don't want to be my friend its fine." Hishima's hair is down and her eyes are sad with tears in the corners, she looks down and rubs her face to wipe the tears away.

Her expression scares me, is it fright or saddness? The next thing I knew she was hugging me, "I don't want to lose you Aydub!" Right then she starts bawling, I can barely stand to see her like this and without realizing it I start crying too. Hugging her tight I hear a familiar voice. _**Who's voice is that?**_

"Comgan?" The voice says.

"Diya! You have arrived" Comgan replies, my grip tightens around Hishima and I realize if my mother is here...then they know. I pull away from Hishima and bolt into Barri's lobby. I look around in my scarf(which has ALOT of pockets but never gets any bigger don't know why.) and find a ring that's broken, right when I drop it onto the altar Hishima grabs me and we are teleported into the dungeon.

"A-Aydub, w-what is this place???" Hishima, I realize, is in her nightgown she doesn't have a single weapon on her and she's shivering.

"This is Barri dungeon, I just need to stay in here until Diya leaves." Closing my eyes I remember my mother's face. Purple wavy hair with grey eyes, her mouth resembles a kitten's mouth. _**You can tell your own mom Aydub, nothing to be scared of.**_

_**"**_Agh! Shut up!" I shove Hishima off and run into the dungeon. Killing the monsters I face with my bare hands I try to exhast my anger. After going down two flights of stairs I stop at the Goddess Statue, "I really screwed up again, I won't be suprised if Hishima tells the entire town about me." Wiping a tear from my eye I sit down in the northwest corner of the room and sulk.

_**Do you want to know something about yourself Aydub? Something that even you have forgotten?**_

_**"**_Be quiet, I'm not listening to a friggin voice in my head, your worse than the armor."

_**Tsk, tsk ,tsk. I'm anything but a voice in your head.**_

"Then _what_exactly are you? Great, I'm having a fight with a voice, I must seem like a lunatic." I bury my head in my hands and let out a sigh.

_**If your willing to listen, I'll tell you. But I can see that you don't want to believe just yet, so I'll let you try to remember for a while.**_

I hit myself in the stomach and get up.** Enough moping around. I'm finishing this.**

A few more rooms pass by and I kill every monster only getting hit a few times, the Imps are the MOST annoying monster in the world. I smash and Imp and see a bright red key drop, "Finally, the boss key." Grabbing the key I walk into the room. The key fits into the slot so I know its the boss room, I turn the key and the door lifts up and shows me 5 Ogre Warriors. Feeling overly confident I charge in and smash an Ogre. The Ogre didn't seem to like my entrance much and hit the floor sending me straight into the wall.

"Ack!" I cough out blood, without my bow this is hopeless, I'll die for sure. I hit the floor hard and look up, my vision is red and I can barely stand or think. **Great, I'm going to die knowing I was rude to Hishima and that my family is going to kill me. **Thundering steps walk towards me, I look up and see an Ogrewarrior looming over me, "Die you vular bastard!" His deep voice booms. The mallet he has swings down towards me a rush of anger rushing through me, "I...I am not going to die here not telling her... Not telling her the answer she wanted! YOUR THE ONE THAT IS GOING TO DIE!" Screaming into the room I brace myself for impact, the mallet hits me and it's light, like a feather. **Heh, your mine!**

I grab the mallet and rip it from the Ogre's hands sending him flying across the room. The Ogre staggers to stand up and charges for me, "Die!" He hollers.

"No, I'm not going to die and neither are you, but you're going to destroy all of your friends here." Looking directly at him he stops dead in his steps, "now. Kill them!" The Ogre Warrior barrels towards his comrades and tears them to pieces, one by one.

"S-Stop this you human!" He's in pain and is sad, "Please!"

"Hahahaha, you brought this upon yourself, now finish them off!" This power is overwhelming, I can control fomors now. Unbelievable, who needs weapons when you can have a fomor kill his own kind?!

_"Aydub, stop this."_ That voice. It's her, Morrighan. Ignoring the voice I turn to the Ogre, covered in his comrades' blood he's shivering.

"Ogre! I no longer need you're assistance, now leave!" I wave my hand. The Ogre raises his hand recluctantly and stabs through his heart falling to the floor gagging.

_"You aren't yourself, stop this."_

_"_Who are you to tell me who I am or who I am not? Your the one that let Cichol take over your identity after all." I smirk. Morrighan appears in the center of the room with her arms crossed atop her chest, eyes closed. Her face expressionless and soft, her outline is glowing. A true goddess.

"_Please Aydub, you don't want to hurt the ones you love do you?"_ Morrighan waves he hand towards the opening of the room, there stands Hishima a horror struck and a tear smothered face stares straight at me.

"Aydub, why did...why are you?" Quivering and shaking she just stares at me.

"Why did I what? I simply just killed these fomors." Metallic...METALLIC?! Oh goddess what HAVE I done?!

"Y-you _simply_ killed these beings without even thinking? I don't even know who you are!" She cries out. Before I realize it Hishima swings a huge sword at me scratching against me. Metallic, scratching, the ability to control fomors? I'm a Black Knight again, I don't remember when I even changed.

Swinging her sword at me I feel my life being cut away with every hit, "Ahhh! I can't believe you Aydub!" Ching! That hit was harder and actually hurt, I look down and see my armor dissapearing. The spot where Hishima had hit me was bleeding, "Hishima! Wait!"

"AHHHH!" Slice!

"Gah!" I fall down and clutch my side where the sword had hit me, the armor was mostly gone except for my arms. My side bleeding heavily I manage to glance up to Hishima's face, "Hish-Hishima..." My head is heavy and my body is going cold, my breathing sharp and short.

Cling, the sword falls to the ground and Hishima falls on her knees and cries, "Aydub! No! What have I done?!" The ground seems to sink below me, "Hishima...Wha-what was that question you wanted to ask?" I look down on the ground and see its turning red with my blood, "I wanted to ask you if..." sigh "If you lov-loved me." Burying her head inbetween her hands she cries loud enough for me to hear her voice shaking with every burst.

My arms are weighty but I manage to drag myself to Hishima's shivering body. Taking her soft hand in my blood covered hand I tell her, "Yeah, I love you Hishima. I always will." Laying my head on the blood soaked ground I feel my eyes grow heavier with every blink. I can barely make how what Hishima is saying. She's saying, "I'll be with you...always Aydub." Stroking my face gently my eyes close looking at her perfect face.


	6. A new home Enter Royan!

_**"Aydub? Are you listening?"**_

_What happened?_

_**"I can't tell if you are listening or not, can you answer me?"**_

_I'm in that odd place where I saw Nao and that pink haired girl. I can't remember anything. My heart aches and my body is in pain, what is going on?_

_**"Aydub, you can't remember anything for a reason. Now can you listen?"**_ _I look up, its that girl! The pink haired girl I saw with Nao, "Who are you? What am I doing here?"_

_**"Well, for starters you know who I am. The reason you are here is because Nao wanted to talk to you." **__The girl waved her hand over to an empty spot which shone and Nao appeared._

**"Aydub! Its so good to see you!"**_Nao squeezed me tight and gave me a smile._

_"Nao, who is that girl, and what am I doing here?"_

**"As she said before, you know who she is. I want to ask you something though."**

_"Sure, what is it?" I cross my arms and lean my head forward._

**"I wanted to ask you, do you wish to start your life over again?"**

_"Why would I want to start my life o...Again???" I stare Nao in the face, again? I had another life? It hits me, I glance over at the girl, "Nao, is that girl me?" Nodding Nao's smile dissapears, _**"Yes Aydub, the girl you see over there is infact you. Well, she was you, she is your fomer self Aydub."**_Oh goddess..._

My vision is blurred, was that a dream? I touch my side and wince in pain, "What the hell?" Sitting up I hear a faint snore and look to my right. Hishima is curled up with a small cat. The cat looks at me curiously and meows.

"Hi there kitty, " I reach my hand out to pet the cat but I draw my hand back in pain, "Ugh, my body..." This room, its the room where I fought those Ogre Warriors...and almost died. Standing up, barely, I walk over to Hishima and lay my hand on her cheek, "I'm so sorry Hishima, I really am." Tears run down my cheek as I picture the scene that happened, how scared was she?

"So, this is where you are, Aydub." A man's voice calls out, I don't recognize it. I look towards the opening and see a tall black haired man standing in the door way with two swords in hand. Remembering what Olsa told me, the swords are a cutlass and a bastard sword.

"You know, for a Dark Knight you're young. Such a waste of a good hand in war." He raises his cutlass and appears next to me, "Your in for a heap of trouble kid." A sharp pain shoots across my back then my waist.

"What the hell?!" He won't stop hitting me and I can't move, what is this? Wham! I hit the ground, cut and bruised. How was he so fast? Why didn't he stop after 5 hits? I stare down and a foot hits my chest slamming me into the ground, "You haven't had an opponent like me before have you?" His eyes, they look souless and endless, a deep dark teal color. This man...he's so different, where'd he learn that technique? Why hasn't he transformed into a Paladin if he's looking for me?

"Who are you? What do you want?!" I strain my voice to talk as his foot slowly crushes my chest. Smirking the man grabs the collar of my shirt and my scarf lifting me into the air, "Who am I? You can call me Royan. What do I want?" He drops me onto my feet, "Simple, to kill you." To kill me! This guy, who goes by Royan, wants to kill me! The ground is hard and slippery as I try to walk backwards away from Royan. He raises one of his swords and readies to charge at me when his sword drops to the ground and he yelps, "OW! What is this cat doing here!? Get off you flithy animal!" Royan shakes his leg trying to shake the cat off when it claws him higher on his leg. You don't know funny until you see a 20 year old trying to get a kitten off of his leg. I can't help but laugh as Royan tries to get the cat off.

"Suidamo here boy!" The cat's ears prick up. He lets go of Royan's leg and runs over to Hishima, "That's a good boy Sui!"

"Geh, "Royan rubs his leg, "stupid animal. Girl! What are you doing here?"

"Me? The question is, what are YOU doing here?" Hishima says crossly as she picks up her claymore.

"Hmph, I am not going to answer a brat like you. Now you answer me." Royan stands up tall slightly holding his chin in the air, really slightly though.

"Well, I'm here because of him." Hishima points over to me, I'm still laughing from the cat-Royan-leg act. As Royan turns his head to look at me Hishima runs over to him and attempts to slice him in half, "Got ya!" Her eyes widen, "What the..." Hishima flings back 20 feet. Royan is un-hurt. Turning towards me his stare stops my laughter and freezes me. What's this feeling? I feel like knives had been thrown through my heart and head. Royan is causing this, what is with this guy?

Hishima struggles to stand up, her balance is off. "Aydub, why have you chosen the path of a Dark Knight?" My lips tighten and I close my eyes tight. _Don't say it, do NOT say it._ "Morrighan is a traitor and can't be trusted..."

"So you joined the fomor side and joined forces with Cichol?" Royan takes a step closer to me his face harsh with that stupid smirk. "I didn't join anyone." I feel a surge of energy. Tilting his head to the side, Royan raises and eye brow, "Then why are you a Dark Knight?" A smile breaks across my face, not a happy OH YAY! smile, an evil I'm going to kill you now, smile. I hear Royan gasp and fall down. Hishima's struggling stops.

"Aydub!!!" Hishima tramples over Royan and tackles me, "Turn back! Turn back!" She repeats the same line over and over, _turn back, turn back._ I start to try to hug her when I notice Royan slinking his way out of the room, "Oh no you don't." My metallic voice freezes Royan in his steps making a shiver run up his spine. I lightly push Hishima off of me and trudge over to the pompous jerk, or should I say scaredy cat? I pick Royan up by the leather straps crossing his chest, "AH! Let me down y-you insolent sw-" I stare him straight in the eyes and a bead of sweat rolls down from his temple to his chin, "Finish the sentence, I dare you." For acting all high and mighty this guy is a complete wimp. My metal hand inches up towards his neck to strangle him.

"W-wait! Don't kill me!" Royan brings his hands up to try to get my hand off of his neck. I tighten my grip slightly, " Why should I let you live after you tried to kill me?" As he tries desperatly to free himself, "Please, "he coughs, "Let me go..." His struggling starts to slacken and his eyes are starting to close.

"AYDUB LET GO OF HIM!" Something stabs me in the back I drop Royan and take out the daggar that had been stuck in my back. Its not covered in blood and I'm not hurt, weird. When I turn around to see Hishima she slaps me, "What the hell is wrong with you?! You say you don't want to follow Cichol but you sure act like you are!!!" Hitting me on the head with the hilt of her sword I fall over. My body, its not armor! Ouch, that still hurt though. A hand grabs the back of my scarf and lifts me off the ground, "You are the only person to really irritate me in a long time kid." He sets me on my feet, "Your something else you know that?" I look up at Royan and his face is like...happy or something like that.

The three of us, Me, Hishima, and our new friend Royan, walk out of Barri dungeon. Royan tells us that the only reason he was looking for me was because I had a huge bounty on my head. As he explains why he needed it a rock hits his head.

"Ouch! Who the hell threw that?!" Royan, holding his head, looks around. Elen runs over and tackles Royan like he was her boyfriend or something. As Royan struggles to be free Elen just hugs him tighter, "Where have you been!? Grandpa and I were getting worried you jerk!"

"Let me go Elen!!!!!" Royan squirms as Elen pins him to the ground. Hishima and I laugh but it ends once we hear the thundering steps of Edern, "Well well well. Its the man who broke the rules and hopped over that fence."

Royan flintched as Edern shoved Elen off and picked him up by the straps on his outfit. Elen giggles slightly as if she knows what is going to happen. Hishima and I exchange looks of fear and worry. Edern hikes Royan up higher in the air while he flails about trying to become free.

"L-look Edern! I didn't mean to just I was really curious!" Royan is panicking and grabbing to unhook the straps. Edern pulls Royan in closer as if he's going to crush him. Hishima and I jump in to stop Edern when we realize he's hugging him. We fall flat on our faces and Royan is in shock.(If it were an anime it'd be some huge panda bear hugging a tiny fox with a ghost comming out of his mouth. His expression would be something like X_X)

After Edern squeezes Royan to death(not literally) we all go back into the mountian house. We all sit down and drink some coffee and tea. Exchanging stories about their lives I quietly look into my cup of tea._ **Maybe I should go back to my family...**_

"Aydub? You okay kid?" Royan lightly shoves me and I come back to my senses, "Yeah! Perfectly fine! Heheh..." My voice trails off as I get up and dump my tea into the sink. Walk off to my room I think about what happened and what is happening. Bangor will be my home for a while, I like it here.


	7. Tir Chronaill My home

"Guh, I didn't realize it's been so long since I last cut my hair." Staring into my mirror my hair is down to my shoulders. I've changed alot in the past few weeks. My hair is longer, my eyes are a little more friendly, and I have a smile now. Rummaging around for a knife to cut my hair. Then it dawns on me, if I look the same it'll be easier to find me... I pick up a piece of tough string and take some of my hair back, tieing it into a partial pony tail. Standin up I don't even recognize myself in the mirror.

Walking outside into the sunlight I feel better. I take a deep breath and start to walk over to Jennifer's bar. The sound of the stairs creaking as I walk up them is comforting. Ricardo is busying himself by messing around with outfit, what a bizzare boy. BANG! I nearly jump out of my skin as a pot falls down, "Oh dammit all, stupid pot rack broke." Jennifer always has something breaking in her bar whether it be her outfit ripping or a pot falling off of a broken rack. I walk over and help her fix the rack and get some food for Edern, Elen, Hishima, and Royan.

"Hey! Aydub, come here a moment." Comgan calls over to me. With my arms full of food and a piece of bread in my mouth I clumsily walk over and mumble, "What is it?" Reaching into his robe he grabs a huge bottle of holy water, "I want to give this to you, heheh." Raising an eye brow I shrug and say a muffled thanks. He places the holy water on the top of my stack of food.

Closing the door with my foot I stumble over to the table where I drop the food, "Geeze, why do these people eat so friggin much?" A hand plops down on my head and ruffles my hair. A hearty laugh follows with a "small" bear hug. Edern has a weird way of showing affection... Hishima trots down the hall way singing, did she just get out of the shower or something? A huge smile flashes across her face, "Oh Aydub, I have something that is great, great, GREAT! news!!!!"

"What would-"I take a bite of my bread, " that be Hishima?" Still eating my bread Hishima tells me she's going to Tir Chronaill to buy a new outfit. She said that she wanted to bring me along. Her smile fades and she tilts her head to the side, "What's wrong Aydub?" I stare at the table and think about my family. Yuki-chan, Ckika, Starlin, Koriko, Mom... I can't beleive that I actually forgot about them.

"Aydub," Royan walks into the room his hair a mess and he's only wearing his pants...I never realized how masculine the guy is, "Look just go with Hishima, you need some new clothes." He waves his hand over to my torn messenger wear. Rubbing the back of my head I laugh, "Well, I guess you're right Royan. Do you want me to pick up a hat for you while I'm there?" I start laughing as I point to his bed head, whacking my head with his fist he laughs with me and soon everyone is laughing. One big family that's what we are.

After Hishima and I pack to head to Tir Chronaill, Royan gives me a daggar, "It'll come in handy in the right times." Patting my head he tells us to leave before it hits sunset. I summon my horse, Jaerla, and Hishima and I ride north towards Tir Chronaill. While riding Hishima and I have a small conversation.

"So, what is it about Tir that has you so upset?" Hishima's eyes are fixed on the road.

"Well, I practically ran away from my home there." Tightening my grip on the reins I take a deep breath, "I don't even know if they heard that I'm a Black Knight."

Hishima doesn't say anything after that, instead all she does is sing a song. I don't understand what she is saying, it's like some ancient language. Somehow it calms me down, I feel like I know it from somewhere though. As Hishima continues singing I join in with a harmony. She turns her head around and smiles while singing. As we reach Dunbarton Hishima says she wants to stop and get some food, dispelling my horse we walk into the town.

The square was busy and in complete havoc. Hishima and I look like we just jumped off of a bandit wagon and found ourselves in a meadow of flowers. Everyone is running around tripping over others or just tripping over air. We quietly walk over to the woman who sells the food there.

"Welcome welcome everyone! Come over to my resturant and eat to your heart's content!" An aged woman calls out waving her hand around gesturing to come in. Hishima runs over and buys a few pieces of bread for us to eat. Looking around I realize that Yuki-chan probably is still here. My chewing stops and my eyes widen.

"Aydub, what's wrong?" Hishima questions. Who else do I find but Yuki-chan standing in the chaotic crowd. Her bright eyes lock onto my dark eyes and she screams out, "BIG BROTHER!!!!!" I drop my bread and make a break for it. Running like I never have before I jump over people who fell and dart between others. Yuki-chan is closing in fast though screaming, BIG BROTHER BIG BROTHER! I finally lose it when I crash into Ckika, we look at eachother stunned. Ckika looks like she's looking at a ghost, "Where the heck have you been?!"

"Uhhhh..."

"BIG BROTHER!!" Yuki-chan glomps me and I yelp. As she smothers me with family kisses and hugs Ckika gives me the death glare. Ckika pulls Yuki-chan off of me and starts interogating me, "Where have you been?! Koriko said he didn't see you after you fought that bear in Osna Sail. We all thought you were dead Aydub." Hitting me on the head, and hard, Ckika storms off with Yuki-chan's hand in hers, "I'm telling Mom! You better be home in a few days got it!"

_**Crap...**_

Hishima asks me what happened. I didn't ask her but told her we'd better get going if we wanted to make it to Tir Chronaill in time. Silently riding along we reach the outside of Tir. Biting my lip I hope that I can somehow get away from them. Dispelling Jaerla once again Hishima and I walk up to the general shop. As she browses the clothes I buy one of the adventurer's suits. Digging out a few dye ampoles from my scarf I dye my newly bought clothing. Slipping into one of the changing rooms I change into my new suit. Its a little bit scratchy but so was my messenger wear.

"OOOOOOOOOH!" Hishima's scream almost breaks my ear drum as she stares at a purple and white magic school uniform, "Its so cute!!! How much for it?!"

"Its 15, 000 gold pieces, can you afford it?" Malcom asks. Hishima nods and buys the outfit squealing with delight. Throwing her clothes off and putting on the uniform super quick Malcom manages to have a bloody nose while I'm standing there with my eye twitching. Tilting her head she asks, "What? Haven't you guys ever seen your mom undress before? Sheesh men are so prude." Taking my hand she drags me out of the general shop.

"Why don't you like this place Aydub? Wouldn't you like see your family?" Hishima asks.

"No actually, after what happened I don't think I should even show my face around here..." She still drags me along. Where is she leading me? A grass land full of sheep and a barn, this is where Deian is. As Hishima drags me along I see a familiar blotch of brown and yellow, Koriko. Hishima continues to drag me even when Koriko and I notice eachother, his face is confused. He sprints over and tackles me bringing Hishima down with us, "Aydub! I thought you were dead..." He buries his face in my suit and cries silently. I guess it must have been hard on him to think I was dead.

All three of us hide in the barn thing and talk. Koriko said that he's been staying in Tir since my apparent "death", he said it put him over the edge so he took a few weeks off. The only person that didn't know about my "death" was our mom. I don't think I want to tell her what happened.

Looking at the ground I hold my knees close to my chest. What am I going to do? I love my family but...I can't bring myself to actually tell them what happened.

"Ay, look, all of us love you no matter what alright?" Koriko lays his hand on my shoulder, "We're not going to let some stupid thing like that make us think you are different." I wipe a tear from my eye and nod, "Alright...is Mom even home?" Koriko shook his head saying that she went on some stupid adventure or something. I shrug and say I'll come back to Tir Chronaill and tell them someday soon.

As the sun sets I stand at the entrance to Dugald Aisle, should I leave? "Aydub...Shouldn't you stay and tell your family? I mean you're parents must be worried, your dad more than anyone I'd think." Hishima queitly says.

"Why would I care about _him_? All that bastard did was leave on some idiotic search for Tarlach! He left my mother and 9 kids so they had to take care of themselves! The first thing I'm going to do once I find him is kick him hard." My voice harsh and cold, why should I care...

"That's not an excuse Aydub! He's your father, you should atleast love him." Her voice breaking. I turn around and see that she's crying, "Hishima, I didn't mean to yell so loudly."

"Its not that, just why do you hate him so much?"

"How would you feel if your father left on some journey that will never be fulfilled?"

"I wouldn't know... I never had a family." Her voice quivering. She never had a family... Wrapping my arms tightly around Hishima she finally begins to cry, "I'm sorry Hishima, I never knew..." Hishima pulls away for a second and stares at me with a certian happiness. She bends her legs so we're eye-level with eachother, "No need to be sorry Aydub." As she spoke those words her lips pressed against mine. My eyes widen and I pull away. What just happened? Was I just...was I just kissed?! Tilting her head to the side she looks confused.

"You okay?" Hishima takes a step closer to me. I shake my head, turn around, and bolt as fast as I could. Why would she kiss me?! This isn't making any sense!!!!


	8. More appologies and a new friend

What the hell am I doing? I just ran away from Hishima...

Sitting among bushes and trees I'm completely hidden. My breathing heavy and my body shaking. The daggar that Royan had given me before I left is laying in my hand. Throwing the dagger into a tree I scream, "What the hell is wrong with me?!" I slam my head against a tree.

Now what? Am I supposed to go back and apologize and risk being slapped?

"AGH! Why is this so difficult!" I yell out. I hear voices, how far had I ran???

"I don't know, there hasn't been any reports of anything." The voice speaks, its familiar.

"Just wait for it, sooner or later he'll come out." Craig! Then the other must be Tyron. I'm happy, maybe I should just go and turn myself in. I start getting up when a blast of warm air hits my head, I look up and see a black grizzly bear looming over me, "Uh oh." The bear takes a swipe at my head and I tumble out into the open, Craig and Tyron standing in a confused manner, "Aydub?" Before I could speak the bear wrapped his claws around me and threw me 20 feet away from him. My body is in agonizing pain, my vision blurry. I hear swords flying in the air and Craig and Tyron yelling in pain.

"You stupid beast! Take this!" Craig cries out as he pushes his sword into the bear's stomach. Howling in pain the bear starts to run back but makes a U-turn and slams into Craig. He flies in the air and lands next to me, his breathing hard.

"Craig..." I manage to say. My body hurts but I manage to stand up. The bear starts rushing towards me I hold my stance. The bear attempts to hit me but I turn his own attack against him.

I stand firm and my body starts to burn I start to double over in pain as the bear starts to stand up.

"Aydub! Get out of the way!!" Tyron starts to run to attempt to save me.

"ROAR!!!!" barreling towards me. Something snaps, I bend back and yell in pain. A dark aura surrounds my body. The next thing I know the bear is laying on the ground and Tyron is next to Craig tending to his wounds.

I look down and my Dark Knight armor is different, I guess I was "promoted" to a Chaos Knight now. I'm more of a buffish skeletal warrior now. I start walking over to where Craig is laying. Tyron gets up and points a sword at my chest, "Y-you have the right to NOT come any closer got it!?" He seems scared.

"Tyron, I just want to help Craig alright?" I push away the blade and kneel next to Craig, "You still conscious?"

"Yes...but barely. I'm in a lot of pain Aydub." He looks up at me, I can see that he's in more pain than I thought. I think for a second and remember that I have Jaerla who always has bandages on her.

I stand up and say aloud, "Jaerla, summon!" My horse materializes infront of my eyes and I walk over to her pouch, pulling out some bandages, "Return!" She dissapears. I can tell that Craig won't be able to hang on for much longer. Wrapping the bandages around the areas where he was heavily bleeding he starts to become less pale.

"Why are you helping me?" He asks looking up at me.

"Although I'm no longer a paladin I still consider you my teacher Craig, and aren't students supposed to help teachers occasionally?"

He laughs a little bit and staggars to his feet, "My orders were to kill you Aydub, but I know your heart is in the right place." Craig looks down, "If you want, we could take you back to Emain Macha and have this whole thing cleared up."

I realize this may be the thing that I wanted, I feel like jumping but then I realize that if I do end up having this cleared up then my life would be...non-adventurey. I shake my head, "Its fine Craig, I did scare the living crap out of Olsa and disobey your direct teachings, I don't believe I deserve that..."

"Olsa said that she'd jump for joy if you came back. Every wants you back Aydub." He puts a hand on my shoulder. I nod my head and walk off with them to Emain Macha. As we reach the bridge I transform back, my body feeling better than it had before the bear. Both Craig and Tyron raise their eye brows as they question how it feels to be a Dark Knight. I tell them its not much different than being a paladin just that, it hurts alot more.

Craig and Tyron tell me to wait at the small island so that they can get everyone. Estatic I agree and sit down to look at the beautiful sea or ocean I saw everyday. Taking a deep breath I close my eyes, maybe it'd be better if I wasn't on the run.

"Looks like this might get better."

"Sadly it won't Aydub." I hear a woman's voice behind me. Turning to look I see its Esras, "What're you doing here?!"

"Oh Just taking a morning stroll and well, I'm here to kill you."

My jaw drops, what is she doing here? I swore I drove her out of Emain Macha long ago. Not realizing what happens first I get hit by an ice bolt, knocking me into the water. I look up at Esras, "W-why do you want to kill me?! I didn't do anything to you...well I did, but you know what I mean!"

She kicks me in the stomach, "They asked me to come back, to kill you." She waves her hand over to the bridge, every Emain Resident is standing there watching Esras trying to kill me, "You see Aydub, when a paladin betrays us and becomes a Dark Knight we normally try to kill them."

"You're insane! I wouldn't do anything to hurt them... I swear I wouldn't."

"Oh? Then what about Olsa?"

"I didn't hurt her!" I clentch my fist.

"You didn't hurt her, thats a laugh. You ended up actually breaking her arm." Her smile is evil and not at all happy.

I look over at Olsa and she turns her head, her arm in a cast. Wait, I dont remember any cast on her arm in my dream... why would there be one now? Are they...are they setting me up? I knew I shouldn't have trusted them.

"What's wrong kid, scared? Are you angry? What is it?" Esras has a mocking tone. I take a deep breath and laugh, "Wow, just when I thought it couldn't get any freaking better, you show up." I give Esras a glare, "You just know how to irritate me don't you?" She attempts to hit me with an ice bolt but just as fast I hit her stomach and knee her head.

"Agh! You little brat!" Grabbing my hair she tosses me into the water, damn why hadn't I cut it? I can't tell what's happening, my breath isn't comming out all I'm swallowing is water. Everything is turning black, what's going on, why am I so confused? Think Aydub think!

A hand grabs my arm and pulls me up, "T-thank *cough* you." Looking up I realize that its Olsa, "I couldn't let you droooooown. You were a goood friend to me."

"Olsa! What the hell do you think you are doing?! Helping that traitor is a crime!" Ailionoa screams out.

"I'm helping a friend Ailionoa! A very goooood friend." Patting my head she drags me to shore, what the hell is Esras doing? Olsa, you really are a great friend...

My eyes start to close when I see Olsa fling into the water, "Run Aydub! Ru- gah!" Esras chokes Olsa, I have to help her...

"Hiya!" A boy jumps over the bridge and litterally runs over the water, "Take this witch!" Taking a slice at Esras she screams in pain.

"Who are you?!" Esras yelled clutching her bleeding hip.

"Me? Oh just a traveler comming in to say hi." His dark brown hair shines in the light barely covering his left eye. He takes a charge at Esras again when she says, "You shall pay dearly for this you insolent fool!" Waving her hand 5 dark skeletons appear around her and begin to charge the boy.

"Crap! This is going to be bad...." He pauses, "For you!!" As soon as the skeletons circle him he swings his sword around, the windmill skill. Every skeleton bursts into black smoke. That bought Esras enough time to run away, "Aw nuts, should have run after her." He puts his claymore back into its gold colored case.

Dragging Olsa out of the water she thanks the boy for saving her and runs off. Ailionoa walks elegantly towards me, "I don't like you very much Aydub, and I probably never will...But you do have a decent heart I guess. Don't ever scare Olsa or hurt her again or else you'll be very sorry."

Grabbing my arm I close my eyes to hold back tears. Olsa is one of my best friends, how could this have happened? My shoulder slumps down as the boy's hand hits it, "So, the chick with the pony tail, is she like your girl friend?" His bright yellow eyes have a curious look.

"G-g-girl friend?! You're out of your bloody mind!" I try to hit him but he grabs my hand and twists my around, "Your the archery type right? Not much of a sword or hand to hand person are you?"

"Sh-shut up..." He lets go of me and smooths his hair out, "My name is SNRetreat"

"SNRetreat? What kind of name is that?"

"It stands for Silas Nathaniel Retreat, got a problem I'll break your arm in half." Silas brushes off his robe, "Look if you want, I can be a travleing buddy. Been lookin' for one and I've been getting my butt handed to me by some archers lately, you any good?"

I hit my face, this guy is blunt and quick to the point, I have to get used to that I guess, "Sure, and yeah I'm pretty good at archery."

Walking onto the bridge we talk a bit after he smacks my head a few times for apparently being a "dumbass". Oh well, back to Tir now.


	9. I meet the Light family HISHIMA POV

So, in all actuality this is Hishima's point of view from when I ran away after I kissed her, weird right? But either way, have fun with the story and whoever reads it thanks because you all rock XDDDD. If you also get the time read "Of course he left it incomplete" Its diya's story and she's my in game mother in mabinogi. =3 Read it if you will!

* * *

~.~.~ Hishima's POV~.~.~

"I don't get it! I thought he loved me!" Hitting a rock I stub my toe, " Ow! Dammit Aydub! I might as well just go tell your family your alive!!!" Letting my body go limp I crash to the ground. I hear a small child's voice behind me, "Are you okay missy?" I turn to find a little girl, maybe about 10 years old standing with her thumb in her mouth, "Well, yeah I'm okay, hehe." I look down her face turns into a confused look, "No your not, pretty missy ladies don't cry when they are 'okay'" I laugh, this little girl is soooooooo cute!

"I'm going to take you home, my mama makes good food! It'll cheer you right up missy!" She grabs my hand, and for a little girl SHE IS STRONG!

"Uh wait! I mean can you...just. AGH!" Flailing and sorta screaming, more like yipping like a chihuahua. After she drags me for a good 5 minutes she drops the collar of my dress and shows me a beautiful front yard.

"Oh my, that's pretty." I say in astonishment.

"Yup yup! My mama is a good gardener and a cook!" The girl nods her head, "Yuki! I has a new play mate!" Play mate? Am I a toy now or a person??? What is wrong with little kids?!

A little girl with white hair and red eyes bursts out the door and slams right into me, "Play mate! Play mate!" She chimes. Both Yuki and the girl keep chanting play mate over and over.

"Hey! What're you two so happy about?" A girl walks out, black hair and red eyes, "Yuki, Star who is _that_?"

"Ckika!" Yuki and Star yelp, " This is our new play mate!"

"Well I don't care, who is she?" Ckika says quite rudely actually. Lightly shoving off the two little girls I stand up with a straight back and a smile, "I'm Hishima, Hishima Cornelia Saens, it's truly a pleasure to meet you Ckika." I hold out my hand to give a hand shake but Ckika just looks at me like I have a stain on my dress, being self conscious I look to see if I have one.

"Are you some kind of rich city girl? Because that was just weird." What?! I'm not a rich city girl!!!...Ok maybe I am but haha...Nervously I twirl my hair. I've never met anyone so rude before, well I've met some pretty rude people but Ckika was just mean!

I stand there infront of her ruby red eyes staring directly at me. Is she scanning me for flaws or maybe just struck by something?

"You know, I've never met anyone else with purple hair like my mom. Are you her kid or something?" She asks me while crossing her arms. Her mom? I haven't even met her yet! This is crazy, why would I of all people know her I mean I barely know Aydub...

"No, my parents live in Emain Macha actually." Ckika shrugs and clears a path so that Star and Yuki can push me into their little house.

I'm amazed that more than 5 people could fit in here! Its so small! As I'm looking around their house the two little girls pull me this way and that giving me toys to hold and clothes you name it I held it. As the two girls prance about picking up this and that and throwing it at me I wonder what Aydub is doing. Star tugs my leg which surprises me and I throw the toys in the air having them all crash down on us.

"Hey! Missy why'd you jump!!!???" Star exclaims.

"Oh sorry! You just scared me thats all." I stand up in the pile of toys, "Should we clean this up?"

Star nods her head and we start picking up the toys, "Hey Star, where's your mom?"

She stands still and puts on a huge smile, "She's finding Daddy!"

Did her dad run away or something?

"Oh, is your daddy lost?" I say with a sweet smile.

"Not sure, he hasn't been here at all, the only ones that really know him are Ckika, Aydub and Koriko." She fiddles with a toy in her hand. I decide to shut my mouth and not bring up a topic that might be sore.

"Phew! That took a while didn't it?" I pat Star's head.

After a little while I fall on the couch, "Geeze! You guys have a lot of energy don't you?" The two girls look at me with grins.

"You remind me of my mommy." Yuki states sitting next to me.

"Yuki's right, you do remind me...us...of mommy." Star sits on the other side.

~.~.~*.*~.~.~

"That's a little weird, I don't even know your mommy." I tease the girls, tickle them and play with them. Tickling Star I hear something outside, my instincts tell me its someone I don't know. I get up and walk over to the window, dark brown hair, blazing yellow eyes.

The door opens and the brown haired man pokes his head in, "Hi there! Uhhh, is Diya here by chance?" His voice is a little rough, maybe a little more on the proper boy(rich boy) side, but still rough.

"No, Diya isn't here... And who the hell are you?" Ckika stands up glaring.

"Me? Oh, uhhh. My name is SNRetreat, call me Silas." He says.

"SNRetreat? That some kind of code name or abbreviation?" Ckika puts her hands on her waist.

"Look, it doesn't matter, where is Diya?"

"She isn't here, now get lost."

"I'm not leaving until we find out." We? Who's we? I only saw one person.

"Who's we? Who's with you Silas?" I stand up my hands wringing together.

"... Your...Hishima right?" How does he know me?

"Yes, yes I am. But I do not know you."

"No, but you know him." Silas waves his hand over to the other side of the yard. Ckika, Yuki, and Koriko stand up. All of our mouths open and ask, "Aydub?"

The others stand up, they think he's dead...now what are they thinking?

"NO! That can't be him!" Koriko cries out, "Aydub is dead! I even saw it." He hits Silas. But he...oh my goddess, he's covering Aydub.

"Stop! Aydub, that's him right? Don't tell me you are lieing." I grab my claymore.

"Ah, I guess I am." Out of no where he hits me.

"Hishima!" Koriko runs and tries to save me, it fails.

"Koriko!!!!"

~.~.~*.*~.~.~

A hand shakes me, "Hey, hey! Are you okay?" A purple haired woman stands over me, Star and Yuki clinging to her leg, "You were tossing and turning. Bad dream?"

I nod my head, "Are you Diya?"

Smiling, Diya puts her hand on my forehead., "Yes, that's me."

She looks so sweet and kind, almost exactly how Aydub told me she'd be like...isn't she supposed to be violent?

Diya stands up and looks over at Koriko who has a guilty look on his face, "Koriko, you have some explaining! Why is my china cabinet broken!?" Koriko's eyes widen and he takes a step back, "I seriously don't know! heheheh...." As quick as a flash of lightning Diya picks up a vase and hurls it towards Koriko.

The vase smashes and Koriko falls down, "Now fix it!!!!" Scratch the non-violence, this woman is scary!

Diya plops down next to me and turns her head, "So, who are you?"

"I'll spare you the long story, I'm Hishima Cornelia Saens. Nice to meet you Mrs. Light."

"How did you know my last name?"

My eyes kind of widen, I have to remember to say that I **knew** him not that I **know** him.

"Oh, I know Aydub. He told me about you all, though it was Star who dragged me here."

"You _know _Aydub?" Her eyes seem happy and worried...maybe they have some disbelief in them.

"Yeah, I knew him a while ago. He came to Bangor for a little while, something about paladin training or something. He was really goofy and sweet." I look down.

"So...its true, isn't it, he's dead?" Diya's voice sounded choked up and was breaking.

"I'm sorry, I wish it weren't true Mrs. Light." Diya squeezes her hand

Ckika slams her hands on the table, "Aydub is-"

The door swings open, "I'm home!" A girl with black hair shouts out. She looks like Ckika!

"Welcome home Sul." Diya says with a smile.

"Oh, we have a guest?" She asks combing her hair with her fingers.

I stand up and reach my hand out, "Hi, I'm Hishima Cornelia Saens, but you can call me Hishima."

"I'm Sularin Light." She shakes my hand.

...............................

"Alright, let's give Hishima some room to breathe" Diya shouts at the two girls.

I smile as I eat a bit of food, "This is really good Mrs. Light."

"You don't have to call me that, Diya would just be fine. And thank you, I can teach you the recipe later. It's a family recipe! I taught it to Uba, Ckika and Sularin. The little angels next to you are going to learn it, once they can stand next to a flame."

Yuki and Star scarf down their food. Sul and Ckika fight over food. Diya and I just make light conversation.

Its all ended abruptly when a girl comes in through the window.

"Hey Grandma, I'm back!" She shouts, her red eyes fierce and demonic.

"Who is that?" I lean over to ask Diya.

A guy with black hair walks into the room., "It's the devil's reincarnation! What are you doing breaking through the window!" He throws his arms up and stands behind Diya.

The girl glares at the guy and another boy materializes out of no where.

"Hello ladies." The boy says.

"Hey! Take it easy Romeo!" The man shouts.

"Alright, calm down Zeiyo" Diya grabs the man's hand and yanks , "Kim, you can sit with us and eat."

"Thanks Grandma" Kim sits down and just eats food as if nothing else really mattered! The boy complements Diya's cooking but he didn't eat anything. I find this a little bizzare.

I tilt my head, "Why does she call you Grandma?"

Kim rips apart a piece of chicken, "Because she's old."

"Oh? You're not related?" I ask, I feel like an idiot.

Diya and Kim glare at me while they both hiss, "What are you trying to say?"

"I look way better than her!" Kim screams.

"In your dreams! Go hit puberty, then come back and talk." Shoving her plate to the side Diya stands up.

"If I'm cute now, imagine when I grow up. I'll put your face to shame."

"That's it! Zeiyo!"

"Right!"

Zeiyo gets up and assumes a fighting position. Kim jumps ontop of the table with Makoto beside her. The girls scream and hide under the table. Before we all realize it Sul tackles Kim, hard. When I say it was hard, you could hear a huge THUD!

"Off my mother!"

"Let me go! You son of a–"

"Enough!" Diya slams her hand on the table, "Can we eat dinner calmly?"

Everyone stares for a minute. Kim shoves off Sul but they start to quarell, Star and Yuki just hide under the table and play kid games. Diya sits down and grabs the cup.

I look at her, "Want me to grab some wine?"

"No thanks, I'm trying not to become an alcoholic" She downs her cup of juice.

Ckika sits next to Diya, which somewhat startles her.

"What's wrong?"

"It's Aydub! He's still–" Ckika looks at me and I shake my head.

"…Forget I said anything, it must have been a ghost. I guess the library's ghosts are finally getting to me."

She leaves to her room.

"Tomorrow, we should all go out to Glenis." I get up and say.

Quite drowsily Diya agrees, "That sounds good."

We break up Kim and Sularin, grab the girls out from under the table and we all agree.

Everyone nods their heads and walks to their rooms. I rub my shoulder and lay down on the couch. Its so dark and...calm! I love it here with everyone, the cute little family.

I close my eyes when I feel a blanket pass over me and lay ontop of my body, "Thank you Diya."

"Heh, I'll tell Mistress Diya that she sleepwalked and gave you it." That's not Diya! I open my eyes and see a semi translucent body hovering off the ground, "Sleep tight Hishima." As soon as he says that he dissapears.

"Thanks Zeiyo." I whisper.

........................................

We all arrive at Glenis's resturant and eat a huge breakfast.

I help the girls try not to get food on themselves as Diya keeps the other three entertained.

Koriko and I start making light conversation when I hear Starlin, "Mommy! Can I get something for Zeiyo?"

"Sure, here." Diya hands the girl at least 20,000 gold.

"Starlin you're an angel!" Zeiyo comes out. He seems like a nut case, but a real sweetie.

They say a few more thing I don't pay attention to, "So Koriko, we're not telling her right?"

"Yeah, we have to make sure that Aydub stays...'dead'"

I nod my head. This seems really extreme. Before either of us realize we hear a scream.

Starlin! Oh no!!

We all run over to the weapon shop where Star just stands there. A boy with longish black hair and a girl with silver blonde hair hovers in the air.

"Mommy! Its Aydub!!!!" Star screams.

I see Diya's eyes well up with tears, "Please tell me this isn't fake."


	10. Welcome Reseku! My new spirit

"Geeze, why does dusk have to come so soon?" Silas complains as he rubs the back of his neck.

"Would you shut up, its just a little bit of dark, its not going to freaking kill us." I manage to hit his head this time. Silas rolls his eyes and stumbles over something. Looking where he tripped I see that its a necklace, "What is a necklace doing out in the middle of here?" I pick it up and put it in my hands to look at it closer. Why does this silver necklace look familiar?

"Agh, my neck, stupid necklace laying on the stupid ground. Aydub you know who's locket thing that is?"

"Maybe...the circle locket rings a bell and the symbol of an owl... An owl..." Running my finger down the locket I wonder, who's locket is this? Silas and I stand looking at the locket when it hits me, "This is my mom's!" He looks at me like I was half bear and half kobold, "So your mom just left her locket or something out in the middle of nowhere? Yeah thats likely" I shoot Silas a death glare and continue to examine the locket, Mom said this was her prized possesion... Touching the locket it pops open and I semi yelp.

"Did you just 'eep'?" Silas looks over at me.

"No I just said,'wannahackaloogie in your face'" Hearing the heavy sarchasim we both start laughing. Looking at the locket I see a small picture, a young purple haired woman, my mother, and a black haired red eyed man...my dad. I feel the tears streaming down my cheeks but I'm not sad.

"Are you crying kid?" Silas puts a hand on my shoulder.

"No these are stupid rain drops appearing out of...no..." I fall into Silas and cry, its pathetic but I never really even knew my father but I loved him and he just up and vanished! I don't know what he thought, confusion, pity, maybe even amusement but I didn't really care at the time. I feel a hand patting my back, "Its alright kid, I kinda know what you must be thinking."

I stand up straight and wipe my eyes, "How? Do you read minds or something?"

All he does is shrug, "My parents were murdered not to long ago by some Fomors, right infront of me too. It didn't bother me for some reason but..." He paused to wipe his eyes, "But I still miss them, I don't have any siblings or anything so...got kinda lonley at home."

I bite my lip. Silas has been through quite a bit of hell himself.

"Hey Aydub, since your a Dark Knight and all...have you seen Tir Na Nog before?"

I scoff, " Tir Na Nog, the place of endless paradise. An assumable place where you can never grow old, die, or become sick."

"So you have seen it? What was it like?! Was it beautiful like everyone says it is, or is it more of a paradise than we ima-"

"THERE ISN'T A SUCH THING!"

Silas takes a step back, I guess my temper got the best of me.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Tir Na Nog isn't a paradise, its a damned fomor infested pit of hell. There aren't any more humans there, only zombies and fomors. Its ridiculous, the damned place that we call a 'paradise' is actually the last place on the face of this world ANYONE would want to be." I pause to catch myself before I start to rant on, "There is no paradise, there never will be. Tir Na Nog is a nightmare for people... But...the way I am now it'd seem like home." Silas puts a hand on my shoulder.

"How 'bout we just set up a camp and sleep away from the road. Its gettin' dark." We walk about 100 yards away from the road and set up camp. I can tell by the moons that its almost midnight.

"Why can't I sleep...."

"You shouldn't worry so much. Crap happens, just deal with it." I hear Silas mumble. Is he sleep talking or actually talking to me?

"Silas you awake or are you sleep talking, because seriously its freaking me out."

"No I'm sleep talking." I hear the heavy sarchasim, "Really, you need to think about it, when you get home your family will be happy to see you...maybe."

"But what if-"

"No 'what if'ing me alright? They'll be happy to see you end of story, now get some sleep."

Leaning my head on the ground I stare at the night sky. Its so endless.

My eyes close and I drift off to sleep.

~.~.~*.*~.~.~

_"Aydub, can you hear me now?"_

_"Yeah, I can hear you." I look up and face Nao._

_"Its good to see you again, even if it is just for this brief time." Her voice is softer than the flutter of owl wings above me._

_I shrug my shoulders and look down. What is it that I forgot about here?_

_"You know, you can become your old self again."_

_"I can become a Paladin again!?"_

_Nao shakes her head, "Sadly, you are forced to be a Dark Knight ,Aydub. I mean, do you wish to rebirth into your old self?"_

_"Old self? I've been this way for as long as I can remember..."_

_"As long as you can remember, do you remember this form?" Nao waves her hand, that pink haired girl appears again. Her orange dress fans out, her deep sea foam eyes are pupil-less, "**Its nice to see you Aydub! I can't believe I actually chose myself to look like that!"**_

_"What?! Wait, so you're me and I'm you? This is confusing." I scratch my head._

_**"Yup! We're the same person! We're one of the lucky few to rebirth!"**_

_"Rebirth? The thing that some people have the ability to do?"_

_"Yes, you actually decided to become a boy. You didn't want a hell filled world, you wanted to lose your memory."_

_"Why?! What was so bad about it???" I cry out, this is frustrating, and why am I getting irritable?!_

_**"Our husband. He left us and then to many things happened..."**_

_"Why do you remember this and not me?"_

_**"I am the symbol of your lost memory, your old self. You can remember if you want, it'd make us happy Aydub!"**_

_"Tch, I don't want to remember then! I want this memory now and forever got it?! You aren't going to change that!"_

_"Alright Aydub. When you wake up you'll be greeted by someone else, maybe Silas and her. Just remember this conversation. Have a good time until we meet again." Nao dissipates with my other self. The platform dissolves and I fall through white the owls flutter about and turn black. The sky shades and turns black with the owls._

_~.~.~*.*~.~.~_

I feel myself tossing and turning. My hand crosses over something soft. A giggle is let out.

"Oh my! You are a little pervert!"

"Huh?" I o pen my eyes, a tan girl with teal eyes and silver blonde hair sits infront of me, my hand on her...well you get the point, "AGH!!!! W-WHO?! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Hmm? What's the matter sir? Do you not enjoy touching my-"

"Sh-shut up whoever you are! And why'd you call me sir?!" I'm sitting up, my hair down and in a bed head.

"Hehe, well, I'm your spirit!" She giggles and points to my white bow.

"Oh... So, what's your name?" I scratch my head and my stomach, a total guy thing.

Her face is sad and she gives me something that mom would call, the puppy eye treatment.

"Its so sad, I don't have a name yet! So you have to name me!" She pokes my nose and smiles.

"Alright... I'll think about it, can I just call you Bow for a while?"

She pouts, "Hmph! Fine but you better make a pretty name for me then! Bow is soooooooo ugly."

How the hell would a bow know if she's only been alive for like 40 minutes?

"Hey...Why are you talking to yourself Aydub? -yawn-" Silas wakes up and rubs his eyes.

"Uhhh Silas, this is uhhh..."

"Who?" He looks over towards me and his eyes open up like he just saw an explosion, "DID YOU GET A GIRLFRIEND OVERNIGHT OR SOMETHING?! Who is she????"

"I don't have a name, but I'm Aydub's spirit bow." She said with her nose slightly in the air, what a snoot.

We talked for a while, Bow seems to have lost her memory.

Bow complains that she's hungry, "Well, what do you want to eat?"

She floats in mid-air and strokes her chin, "I want a helmet! A nice shiny new one too master!"

I roll my eyes as Silas and I get up to pack up camp, Bow seems content to just watch and observe us. She's pretty weird, but she seems like a good friend.

As Silas and I mindlessly chat up the road to Dunbarton Bow floats around foxes and raccoons. She awe's and ooh's at everything, trees, animals, even the dirt! it's like she's 4 or something.

If you haven't been on a trail to Dunbarton then you have no idea how beautiful it can be. The trees are scattered and shade the path somewhat, and the bears seem friendly as long as you don't get near them and touch them.

The sunlight is barely comming over the horizon as I walk into the walled town.

"Aydub, I'm going to go hunt some, my skills seem to be really dull. I'll catch you later." Silas waves and walks off into the feild, dissapearing into the tall grass. Bow plops her arms on my head and rests her head on them.

"So, humans' lives are pretty interesting aren't they?" She seems content and facinated.

"It varies on the person's life. Mine's interesting I guess." I look up at her and she smiles I can't help but return the smile.

I stop by the healer's house to pick up some bandages and stamina potions, being an archer you lose stamina quickly.

Bow pops out for a second but Manus doesn't seem to see her, maybe only I can.

"Hey Bow, I'm going to name you something cool."

"Oh? What would that be Master?" She asks with a curious look.

"I'll name you Reseku. Seems like something you'd be called."

"Really nice Master! Now what about my helmet?"

"Haha, alright I'm going to buy you one. You like expensive stuff right?"

"Oh yeah." She nods her head eagerly.

Looking at Nereys's shop I end up buying another bow with a sheild. A blue helmet seems rare but I bought it and tossed it to Reseku who seemed to eat it as if it were an apple! I seem pretty content myself with a sheild, its mostly for looks but you never know.

"Oh my that was very tasty!" Reseku says wiping her mouth, "May I have another Master?"

I laugh, "Sure Reseku. Nereys I'll buy another Guardian Helmet."

"Thank you sir." She hands me the helmet and I hand her the money."

"Here," I toss the helmet to Reseku but it clatters to the ground. I turn around and start to say,"I thought you were going to catch-"

Starlin looks at me and I look at her, "It..."

Her face lights up with extreme joy and screams loudly.

A whole group arrives, my entire family... AND HISHIMA!

"Mommy!! Its Aydub!!!" Star squeals.

"Please tell me this isn't Fake." Mom says with tears in her eyes.

No no no! This isn't good....


	11. My secret revealed

"Mommy its Aydub!" Star cries out.

No! Please don't let it be them.

"Please don't let this be fake." Mom reaches her hand out to hug me.

Koriko is standing there and Hishima just looks.

"Get him!" Sularin blurts out.

Ducking and dodging grabbing hands I weave my way through the massive family.

"Master! What are you doing?"

"Running for my life!" I thwap Reseku on the head, "Can you help?!"

"Hmph! After you did that I don't want to help you!!!"

"Agh! You freaking...Whatev-" I hit the ground, Star and Yuki have my legs, "Let go!!"

They both cry in unison, "No! Mama told us to get you!"

Thinking quickly, "Well you got me, so the games over, now let me get you." I say with a huge smile on my face.

"Ok!" They let go of my legs and sprint the other way giggling and squealing.

Getting up I sprint over past Glenis and up the stairs, my family hot on my heels.

"A wall! Ha we have him cornered!" Ckika screams

"Tch." From my training in Barri and Math I learned how to run up walls. Putting one foot infront of the other I run up the wall and spring over it, "Yes! Now I'm -" Hands grab me so I can't move my arms.

_**"Sorry Aydub, but Diya wants you with her."**_

"Dammit all Zeiyo! Let me go! You seriously don't understand what's going on!" I shout, this is bad. My body is becoming warmer.

He floats upwards and over the wall so I face my family.

Ckika, Sularin, Star and Yuki, even Koriko and Hishima...but most of all in the front my mother.

"Aydub, your not dead! I'm so happy!...AND INFURIATED!" Mom steps and I swear she's going to slap me.

Right when she's about to do whatever she is Hishima stands infront of me and slaps me across the face, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Tears run down her face and she's angry and not just, oh my god I just broke a nail I mean OH MY GOD YOU JUST RIPPED MY DRESS!

I can't think, my face is shocked and I guess scared.(Kind of like O_o")

"H-hishima, look I'm sorry just that you-" I try to say

"Don't say sorry to me! You've lied to all of your family! They all thought you were dead!!!!" She screams into my face, "You should have told them you were alive! They would have protected you!"

Thats when I snap.

"If I would have gone to them it would have caused more problems! If I would have gone there the Emain Macha officials would have kidnapped them to coax me into going there for my death! Don't you dare tell me what to do because you basically did the same damned thing!!!"

She draws back and my family all takes a step back. I've never been known to have a temper, its only started when I became a Dark Knight.

"Aydub, this isn't like you now tell me what's wrong." Mom puts her hand on my face but quickly draws it back, "Aydub your burning up." Her voice full of concern.

I shake my head and just think, Zeiyo please just let me go.

"Mom, what's going on? Why isn't Aydub talking and just shaking his head?" Sularin asks worried.

_**"Diya, I don't think that this is going too well, I think that-"**_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I cry out my body in un bareable pain, "Zeiyo! Let me down!!!"

Without hesitation Zeiyo drops me and I fall to the ground. I try to hold in the screaming pain. Arms wrap around me, my mom, Yuki, Star, and Koriko all trying to hug me.

Before realizing it something snaps.

"Get off!" I get up and everyone crashes to the ground. I walk backwards holding my head my back hitting the wall. The dark aura that appeared around me at Sen Mag Plateau starts to form around me again.

"Aydub!" Yuki squeals, "Nooo! Mama whats wrong with Aydub?"

"I don't know Yuki!" Mom holds everyone as my body starts to change, the Chaos Knight armor appears around my body.

"Found him!" Craig's voice calls out, "Over here!"

The helmet mostly covers my face until an arrow hits me square in the forehead.

"Aydub!!!!!!!"

My body falls to the ground the helmet stops and dissapears, my body still in the armor.

Hishima runs over, "Aydub aydub?!" She pulls the arrow from my head. (rofl wow xD not the smartest thing she's done)

I can't talk or move, everything is shutting down one by one.

"Away from the boy!" Aodhan commands. By now I can recognize their voices.

"Aodhan, what's the meaning of this?! You said he was dead!" My mother questions him.

"Get away from Aydub, Diya! He's a traitor! Look at the armor that just some how appeared around him!''

Mom looks at my body, stiff and cold.

"Aydub... What is that armor Aodhan?"

His eyes are dark and stormy, "The armor of a traitor, a Dark Knight. By the looks of the armor, he's almost to the top."

Mom covers her mouth and stiffles a cry, "He...he's not the same is he?"

"No. The boy you knew is gone forever Diya, I'm sorry." Aodhan puts a hand on her shoulder and hugs her.

"Aodhan... What... Why was he running?"

"He obviously forgot who you are, thats what happens when you convert."

WHAT?! That idiot! He doesn't even know who the hell I am.

Hishima looks at me, bends down to whisper into my ear, "You need to show them your still you." She smiles sweetly.

I thought...heh, she's a smart cookie after all.

Koriko runs over and hits Aodhan's leg, "Give me back my brother!" He shouts.

Yuki and Star join in. They think I'm dead now. Figures an arrow to the head would surely kill any regular person, but whoever said I was normal.

I move my arm and give a small smile to Hishima, "Now go kick his butt Aydub." She gives me a cute look.

The helmet materializes and I stand up.

Aodhan and everyone else, minus Hishima, stares as if I am a zombie.

"So, a freaking little arrow would kill me huh?" The metalic voice echos.

"A-Aydub, w-w-w-we're...We.."

"Heh, you what?" I take a step closer.

I can hear Aodhan swallow and the others start to run away, "Now what are you going to do?"

"Hiya!" The battle cry sounds all to familiar. Swords drop and foot steps become louder, "Heyo! So, these guys causing trouble for you Aydub?"

Silas has a huge smile across his face as the others kneel on the ground. He nudges them in the back, "S-sorry sir, we were only following orders..."

I laugh, pretty evily too, "So just because someone is more intimidating you say sir and acknowledge him? Pretty pathetic for the apparent Paladins of Erinn."

"You smug little fool!" Aodhan draws his sword and swings at me.

"Aodhan no!" Mom cries out and grabs his hand before he meets his demise, "Please... I don't want to lose another." Aodhan looks at her with sympathy.

"Alright Diya, this is a favor to you. Aydub, if you cause any havoc or disrupt ANYTHING we will hunt you down and kill you." He sheaths his sword and walks away.

After they are all out of sight Silas sighs loudly, "Ahhhhh! Man this guy is a lot tougher than I thought!" He hits my back and my helmet falls off. My height returns to normal but I still have the armor on.

He looks at me and we both start laughing. My family looks at us like we're loons or something.

Something bangs on my leg and I look down, Yuki and Star, "Big brother," Yuki starts off.

"Are you still," Star says

"Aydub?" They say in unison. I smile and bend down, I'd hug them if the armor wasn't so scary and hard.

"Yeah, I'm still me guys. I'm not any different...although I look different." I look down when 4 little arms wrap around my neck and squeal, "BIG BROTHER IS HOME!"

I manage to pry them off and look at the rest of my family. I'm imagining I look pretty scary with CHaos Knight armor and my normal head. (I see that and I'm weirded out myself)

"You stayed away from us, hiding for weeks. You even had Ckika and Koriko keep a secret like that. DO YOU REALIZE HOW WORRIED I WAS?!" Mom shouts out.

That just about freaked me out like Hishima did.

"Mom, I'm sorry just that they were trying to kill me and...well...you know." I bite my lip. Here it comes, I think.

She shocked me even worse when she glomped me and laughed, "You dork! You worried me so much." She buries her head in my armor and and pat her head as soft as I could. Being a Chaos Knight adds onto your strength like no tomorrow.

Before I realize it I'm covered in my family memebers hugging me. I'm slightly shocked and annoyed but happy.

I stand up and breathe a heavy sigh, my body returns to normal. Star and Yuki climb on me and tug on my long hair. Ckika and Sul start poking the hell out of me and Hishima kisses my cheek while Koriko starts poking my head.

My eye starts twitching when my mom starts to poke my leg.

"WHAT IS IT?!" I shout.

They all say in unison, "Are you alright?" I hit my face and laugh, "Yeah! I'm perfectly fine!" As they chat and question me I look over their shoulders/heads to see another person, red eyes and brown hair.

"So a Dark Knight huh? Been wanting to fight one for a while." She cracks her knuckles.

"Sorry I'm not in the mood for a fight. Who are you?"

Mom stands infront of me, "Her name is Kim. She's kind of like a new family member."

Kim scoffs, "Family member? Puh lease, I'm helping grandma here do stuff."

Grandma? Hah, Mom is probably gonna kill her sooner or later.

"What are you a fomor?" I ask.

"Yup, you wanna fight now?" She raises her wand.

I shake my head and look down, "No, I don't want to fight right now." I look over at my family, "I'd actually rather go home."

"GO AYDUB!" Two voices shout. I look over my shoulder, Silas and Reseku are being nut cases and cheering for no reason.

They keep chanting on when Yuki and Star join in, "GO AYDUB GO! GO AYDUB GO!" I laugh when something hits my side. Cold...and ice bolt?!

My knee hits the ground and I clutch my side, "You WANT to fight?!"

Kim nods her head as she launches another one at me, this one hitting my shoulder.

I hit the ground and grab my bow and arrows and shoot a round of arrows at Kim. 4 hitting her.

"Agh! Your an archer?!" Kim yelps holding her arm and side.

"Yeah, surprise isn't it? Kinda useful when you can shoot 5 arrows one after the other too!" I load more when Koriko tackles me.

"YOU GONNA STOP IT?! YOU'VE ALREADY FOUGHT!" He punches me.

Stunned I have no idea what to say, "Alright alright..."

Kim scowls at me and starts to walk away when Mom goes over and pats her back. Mom always loved fomors, I guess she loves Kim too.

Koriko gets up and walks away, the cement dotted with tears, "Gah.." I too get up and brush off my pants, "Guess I'll just take my leave then..."

"Leave?!" Reseku thwapts my head, "What kind of guy are you? You can't just leave them YOU COMPLETELY DESERTED THEM!!! Now I want you to go over there and say your sorry!"

With an intense look she floats in mid air, head in my face arms on her waist.

She spins me around and marches me over to my family, can they even see her?

Her hand hits my head again and I sigh, "Sorry..."

Everyone looks at me and I jam my fists in my pockets and turn my head, "I mean, sorry I caused all this hell."

Star and Yuki, the little duo, stumble over and tug my pants, "No need to say sorry big brother," They both smile, "We always forgive you!" They hug my legs and I let out a small laugh. I bend down and hug the two of them, "Thanks you two."

Ckika walks over to me and Sularin does the same.

"You are a freaking idiot you know that?" Ckika hits my head. ARE THE GOING TO LET UP ON THE HITTING?!

"You SERIOUSLY worried us." Sularin doesn't do anything but cross her arms and give me her infamous death glare.

"And lets not forget he DID protect you guys," Silas walks over with a smirk on his face, "If he did go to you guys he probably would have killed you. First couple of his transformations were wild he can't remember anything. So you'd actually be thankful he didn't go back to you guys." A hand hits my shoulder and pats it, Silas whispers in my ear, "You'd better thank me for covering you."

As soon as I get up, yet again, Hishima glomps me and plants a kiss on me, "NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" I manage to stay up but I'm dazed from her kiss, AGAIN.

"Wait, HISHIMA!!! Did you just kiss my baby?!" Mom storms over.

"Yes I did." She dangles from my neck with a smug and funny little look on her face, "He's my boyfriend." She sticks her tounge out.

Mom breaks down laughing and I can't help but laugh too.

Silas tackles Hishima and I, he ends up landing in the middle of us, "So, we're like the three lost warriors. Mari is Aydub, I'm the 'brute' Ruairi, and you must be Tarlach Hishima." He looks over at her.

She smiles, "Yup, the three lost warriors."

"Yeah..." I said with a smile, my family piles ontop of me, "OOF! Haha, you guys are happy aren't you?"

They all look at me, "Yeah! We're glad you didn't end up dead!"

I can see in the corner of my eye Kim is standing there glaring at me, I don't care I'll fight her again soon and next time I'll be sure to finish the battle.


	12. Find the Dark Knight! POV

Thought I'd give an intro to my elf and giant, Chisuey and Kanatala. =) enjoy~

* * *

~Chisuey's PoV~

On top of a hill with my foot resting on a rock, my sight is set on this small castle town of Dunbarton. A wicked smile forms underneath my mask and I stand up, "Magnific- ACHOO!" I sneeze...there goes my cool demeanor. I pull down my mask for a moment to rub my nose when a heavy hand pats my back, somewhat shocked I look up and find my best friend, who is also my girlfriend, Kanatala.

My name is Chisuey Genga (Pronounced Chee- Sue- Eh, Jen-gah), I have darkish wheat colored hair which is paired with my jade colored eyes. I'm tall for most elves but more...clumsy. I may look cool, talk cool, and walk cool, but get to know me and I'm tripping, breaking stuff by accident, and sneezing up a storm...(Damn my allergies.) Kana seems to see past that.

My girlfriend is Kanatala Leon (Pronounced Kan- ah-tall-ah, Lee-on), she has violet blue hair paired with obsidian eyes, not to mention her cute little smile. She has everything a guy could want, a great body build, wonderful eyes, a great personality and even a heart warming laugh! BUT, there's one issue with us...She's a giant, I'm an elf. That brings minor complications for our love...

THAT'S ALL BESIDE THE POINT THAT I'M TRYING TO MAKE! I was sent on a mission to assassinate a Dark Knight of Uladh...Pleasant right? Wrong, I've only killed one other Dark Knight and BARELY got away with my life. I don't understand why the Filia elves would want me to kill this guy, I'm a klutz, I only use magic, and I'm a terrible "ninja" meaning I can't hide very well due to my constant sneezing.

"Hey Chi, you ok? Seemed like you were zoning into one of your 'awesome' phases, well up until you sneezed anyway." Kana laughs and I laugh with her.

"Yeah I guess I was zoning wasn't I? Heh, oh well, lets just find the kid and" Wham, right into a blasted tree.

_Should have seen that one coming.._

Kana runs down and rips me from the tree, "You ok Chi?" I can hear the subtle giggle in her voice.

"Peachy, I run into trees ALL the bloody time." Rolling my eyes we start laughing again.

The both of us scamper down the hill in between my occasional sneezes, this air really isn't the best for an allergenic elf. As we reach Dunbarton I realize that elves and giants aren't very common in Uladh, we might look bizarre.

I shake my head, nah, we still are in Uladh just not very many of us. We walk into the walled town and go to the weapon shop owner.

"Hey can I help, oh my your large." She says looking up at Kana.

She laughs a little bit, "WEll, I am a giant after all."

The owner shrugs and looks over at me, "So what can I do for you two?"

I pull out my sketch book and show her the boy that I'm looking for, "Have you seen this guy?"

The owner nods her head, "Yeah, that's Diya's kid. Why do you need to know?"

I put the sketch away, "Well, he left Iria not to long ago but he left his bow. I figured I might as well return it in person."

Shrugging again the owner tells me he lives in Tir Chronail, oh joy more walking. Kana and I start off to Tir when we're interrupted by a small child.

"Whoa! You two aren't from around here are ya?" He says mouth agape at Kana, "She's huge! And you have pointy ears!"

Its not exactly my favorite thing to have people point out my "freakish" ears, "Yes...She's a giant and I'm an elf, can we move on now kid?"

Crap, I feel a sneeze.

The kid laughs, "Wow! You guys sure are a pair, I never see pointy ears or large people around here!"

Kana laughs a little bit and squats down to see eye to eye with the boy, "I don't think you should refer to elves as 'pointy ears' around him, he's kinda touchy."

Looking over at me the kid laughs even more and whispers back to Kana, thanks to my ears I can hear bits and pieces of what he's saying but the only thing that I really hear is "pointy ears''.

"What'd you say about my ears!?" I semi shout because the sneeze is coming...

"Whoa, I'd better go looks like he's gonna blow a vein. Bye big lady and pointy ear guy!" He runs off waving.

"Come back here you tw- twe- twa. ACHOO!!!" I slump my shoulders and sigh, "Curse my allergies..."

Kana giggles a little bit and pats my back, "C'mon Chi, I don't thing there's going to be much pollen in Tir."

I nod and we start heading off again. The trail is quite beautiful but not as beautiful as Kana. Not much about this place but its simplicity is pretty nice, nicer than the desert at least. I look down at the ground and look ahead of myself to make sure there's nothing I can trip over or fall on. Nothing so far but I tend to trip over nothing.

Kana seems spaced out, looking up into the air, the trees anything. She's a nature lover and tends to always pay more attention to it when she's surrounded by it. Can't be helped anyway.

The path is pretty long as we're walking along and several people pass by us, gawking and laughing. I almost lose it when I hear a guy say "freaks" but Kana keeps me in check. My damned temper always gets the best of me. A light tap on my head tells me to cool it before she slaps me or tosses me 50 yards across the path way.

As the pathway seems to NEVER END I finally spot a large tree and a man leaning against it...sleeping by the looks of it. Kana and I come up next to him and he snaps out of his small nap, "Whoa, what's going on here? The circus is in town, why wasn't I informed?" He laughs heartily and my anger seems to rise a small bit.

Kana laughs a little and looks down at the man, "Hey, I was wondering if Tir Chonaill is near here. We need to find a friend."

The man looks up at Kana and back down at me, "Sure, its up the path but what are two...non-residents of Uladh doing here?"

Kana sighs, "I just said we're looking for a friend, thank you for the information sir." She smiles a little bit and taps my shoulder telling me its time to go.

"All right, but be careful! We just had someone come back yesterday who's pretty shifty now, more aggressive. Don't anger the kid!" He shouts.

Kana nods her head and waves, shoving me up the path as I continue to sulk about the 'circus' comment. The trees begin to spread out and become less dense, meaning that we were getting close to a town OR we were going to go into a desert. Nontheless we were almost to Tir.

The grove of trees wove our way onto the plain littered with wolves and grass, a river cutting it off from the town. Kana and I walked across the bridge as several wolves ran away from Kana's massive height, maybe being a 16 year old giant had its ups.

The bridge creaked underneath our weight but seemed to hold up pretty well...up until I step onto a weak spot and fall into the river.

"DAMMIT ALL!" I holler out brushing the wet strands of hair out of my face, "That wasn't even clumsy! That was just...Just...GAH SCREW MY LIFE!" I flop back down into the water as I hear Kana giggling and trying to hold in her laughs. I poke my head out of the water and say once more, "That was NOT clumsy! You got me hun???"

"Yeah yeah,"She stiffles a laugh, "I got ya'." Kneeling down she picks me up out of the water and through the hole.

I can't very well do a fire spell when I'm soaking wet so instead I start up a sneezing fit(Hallelujah). Kana's steps aren't very loud on the dirt, its almost surprising but I mean we're almost on a stealth mission here so she has to be semi quiet.

Two little girls pass by us giggling and chasing each other. They could be playing tag or some other game...or simply doing errands outside. Kana stops in her tracks and looks at the little girls as they run about squealing, it all abruptly ends when the shorter one crashes into Kana's leg.

"Ow! That hurt..." I can see tears welling up in her eyes, "T-that re-really huuuuuuuurt!" The sentence was finished and she started bawling her eyes out. Looking around frantically I try to think of the funniest thing to make her laugh.

_This is gonna hurt...a LOT._

"Hey! Look at me being an idiot!" I semi shout to get her attention but then I mutter to myself, "Not like I'm not always like one."

I walk over by the stairs and litterally throw myself off landing on my back. The pain surges up through my body and makes ME want to cry, but I don't cause then she'd probably cry even more.

My senses return and I can hear giggling, "Are you ok?"

I give the girls a thumbs up with my face staring straight into the sky, "Just peachy, nothing like an aching back to make your day..."

The little girl leans over me and grins, "Thank you for making me laugh Mr....Mr. Pointy ear man!"

_Let it go, she's like 10...no big deal...really._

"N...No problem!!!! Just...Look where your going next time!"_You little devil!_

They scamper off and leave Kana laughing and me groaning in pain.

"You do anything just to make little kids happy don't you?"

"Nooooo, I just LOVE to throw myself off of stairs to make little kids NOT CRY!!!!" My back aches and I wince in pain, "Ohhh....Why me?!"

Noticing the shadows slightly moving on the ground tells me we'd better find the kid and get the job over with...and fast. I've never been one to not carry out a mission just that...I've never been one to actually DO the mission. Its normally Kana who finds the guy, coaxes him to going somewhere, then I kill him...normally that's what happens.

Kana and I sit down underneath the giant tree in the, what I assume is, center of town. The towns people go about their business and don't even glance at us, good thing for me I don't really want to hear any remarks about my ears....Or that I'm soaked to the bone.

"Chi, do you want me to pick you up a spare robe? I mean your outfit is soaked." Stating the obvious Kana gives me a worried look.

"I'm fine, I would have said something earlier IF I wanted a robe..." I tuck my head inbetween my knees and let a sigh out, "So far, today has not been my day."

Kana's warm hand sneaks up on my back and rubs it, "Well, it always happens hun. Don't let it get to ya'."

When I start to nod off Kana thumps my back, "Chi, Chi! Wake up! Isn't that the kid we're...you're supposed to kill?" Kana points to a long haired boy with dirt colored skin leaning against a pole.

I rub my eyes to focus better, "I...think so. He matches the discriptio- ACHOO!..." I take off my mask and rubs my nose and start again, "he fits the description. Long black hair, dirt colored skin...what else, dark eyes...The only thing left is to confirm if he's a Dark Knight."

Kana taps my shoulder just before I become lost in thought. I look up at her and she points to the lower half of my face. My eye brow raises and she mouths, "Mask." And it hits me, where is my mask?! I look frantically around while Kana starts to laugh.

"Do you know where it is or something?!" I stand up arms flailing about. Kana nods and points behind me and I hear a voice.

"This kinda blew out of your hand." The voice is cold and very...dark.

I turn my head and see the boy holding my mask up, his eyes are souless-ish and he doesn't have much of an expression.

Grabbing it I tie it back on, "Thanks..."

He shrugs and walks back down the hill.

"That's him."

"Really? How do you know Chi?"

"The eyes, its hard to miss." I look over at her and she nods. She gets up and walks off, this is now my time and my time only. I concentrate and charge a lightning bolt. The electricty flowing through my body almost ready to dissapear. At the last second I jut my hand forward towards the boy and it hits him straight in the back.

He staggers forward and looks back at me with fierce dark eyes his mouth tight together. I tilt my head up giving him a smug look with my eyes.

_This is bad, this is very very VERY bad! I'm gonna get killed!!!_

Hastily I cast another spell hoping that I won't be to late. In the middle of concentration hands grip around my throat and shove me into the tree my spell incomplete. Barely out of my daze I look...try to look...at who is choking me, its him. The Dark Knight.

Slowly I start to lose my sense of reality and start slipping into what I remember before Erinn. My eyes start to close and a small grin forms underneath my mouth, if only I could go back to then...

Black.

When I come to my senses I look around and see Kana patched with bandages and the boy cradled in her arms asleep. We aren't near Tir's center anymore.

She whispers quietly, "Shh, he's sleeping." and she gave me a playful smile. What had happened while I was out?

I prop myself up onto one of my arms and look over at her, "What happened?"

She looks down and combs his hair with her fingers, "After he started choking you and you blacked out, I came back and grabbed you and punched the poor kid in the face. He stepped back as I hugged you and all that mushy stuff and fell down onto his knees and kept saying sorry over and over. Its almost like he's fighting with himself, maybe he _is_ a Dark Knight but I think there's still good in him." She hugs him a little tighter.

I roll over back onto my back and think, a Dark Knight who still has some humanity left in him? Plausible but not heard of...What am I going to do? Kill him or just leave him here...or maybe help him out?

The ground under Kana moves and I see her getting up and moving the boy to a bed...A BED?!

"Kana where the hell are we?!"

She shushes me, "We're at his house, he offered us a stay here...So while you were unconcious I took up the offer and...well here we are!"

Dumbfounded I can't find the words to put how...confused and grateful I am to the kid.

"What's his name anyway...Kana?" I ask looking down.

The dark voice I hear comes back, "Its...Aydub..."

I hear blankets move and the ki...Aydub rolls over onto his stomach and yawns.

"So...Who are you anyway?" He asks not looking at me.

"I'm Chisuey Genga, elf..." Should I say assassin?...No, "Elf mage."

Aydub props his head up with a few pillows, "Well then, I'm Aydub Light, apparent Traitor of Erinn. Nice to meet you." He gives me a smile and yawns again.

Yawns being contagious as they were I yawned too and it extended to Kanatala and then went back to Aydub who made all three of us yawn at the same time. (...Did that make sense? ._.)

We all look at eachother and flop back onto the beds and fall asleep. Did I just make a new ally?...No I made a new friend.

The guy I was trying to kill, ended up my friend. Talk about weird.


	13. I lose my mind

Blood covers the walls and a scream sounds throughout the room.

"How could you?! You bastard!" A man comes up and shoves me, "You killed her!"

_What's going on?_

The man punches me and screams, "Ay how could you kill Hishima!!??" Silas...

_No..._

I look over to the body, Hishima's body is covered in blood, I look down at my hands and body; I'm covered in blood too.

"We should have never trusted you!" Silas throws a daggar into my heart and I staggar back, no pain. What is going on? Another swing and another come after eachother slicing into my chest and arms, what is going on?!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Chi, he's not waking up, maybe we shou- he's waking up!" A blurry image with violet hair is blocking my view.

"M...mom?" I manage to whisper.

"Mom? No, sweetie its Kanatala. Here drink some water." Kanatala pours some water into my mouth which wakes me up instantly. Sitting up straight I realize I'm drenched in sweat. Chisuey, Kanatala, Silas, Hishima and Koriko are by my bedside looking at me with huge concern in their eyes.

Koriko pipes up, "Hey! Your awake, we were getting worried about you." My eyes look down to the bed sheets and I wonder, so it was just a dream but, why did it feel so.. real? I can hear the chattering of the 5 people around my bed but my mind is in a whole different world. When I'm about to fade off into my own world I hear Hishima's heart warming laugh accompanied with Silas's yelp of pain.

"Ay!" Hishima glomps me, "How about we go for a walk around your town, just you me and Silas? You probably need some time away from the house."

I nod my head, still zoned out.

The three of us walk out of the house. Silas and Hishima laugh and converse a few paces ahead of me. Why do I feel so distant now? In the back of my mind I hear the screaming of Silas from my dream, the scent of the blood on the walls. An uneasy feeling creeps up on me and I stop dead in my tracks.

"Ay? You ok hun?" Hishima places a hand on my shoulder, I swat it away quickly. I hear Silas step up close to me and I hear him say, "You okay man? I mean, normally you'd be laughin' right with us." Doing the same thing that Hishima did he places his hand...actually tries to place his hand on my shoulder but I swat it away before it can even reach me.

"I just...need to be alone." I turn around and start to walk back to the house.

The comforts of my room never did leave me, even when I was a little kid. The loft was always in the same place and high above the ground, the secret passage way to outiside the house that mom never found, and even the corner desks with my piles and mounds of books and papers. Sitting down at my desk I rifle through the old writings and scribbles I've written about the things I used to love. The Three Warriors, Ciar Dungeon, anything in Erinn I've written about. Filing through them I find a peculiar piece of paper. Looking at it I realize I wrote this when I started my Paladin training "Dark Knights" was the title. Skimming the paper I realize how strongly I believed in being a "protector of Erinn". Why'd I abandon it? Why'd I become a Dark Knight? Groaning I shove all the papers off my desk and bury my head in my hands. So many thing to think about... To little time to actually comprehend any of it. Just wait for mom to come home...

I didn't realize it but I'd fallen asleep on my desk, a blanket was draped over my shoulders. The clock read 11:30, I couldn't tell if it was night or day time. By the looks of my room, it's day. Opening my door and walking down the hall I see everyone crowded in the living room, murmering about something I couldn't hear. As soon as Ckika notices me everyone stops and looks towards me, "How long have you been standing there?"

Still drowsy from just waking up I couldn't really understand much, "I'm not sure, maybe a minute or so? Were you talking about me?" They all look at my with a worried look then go back to chatting. _What was that about?_ Ignoring it completely I turn around and head back to my room. Digging up the paper I wrote on Dark Knights I realized how much I resented them. How much I wanted to kill them off and bring "balance" to this world. None of that happened, infact I went against it all. The door opens behind me and I hear my mother's distinct footsteps, "Hunny, are you okay?"

A small laugh comes from my mouth, "Fine."

"Okay...I was getting worried because...Well you apparently being dead, never telling us you finished your Paladin training and then becoming a Dark Knight then finally comming back to us. Well, I'd been wondering if you were alright."

"I'm fine Mom, nothing to worry about alright?" I continue to read the paper. My mother's voice sounds close behind me, "Ay, this seems like something your father would have-"

"Don't even talk about him!" My hair falls over my eyes, "That bastard hasn't been home in years, he's probably dead for all we know!"

"Ay! Don't talk about it like that! There's a chance...Actually I know he's alive! He has to be Ay!"

I laugh a short laugh, "That idiot couldn't stay alive even i-" A hand strikes my face and I'm shocked.

"Don't you dare talk about your father l-like that Ay!" I hear my mother's voice starting to choke, "Y-You know as well as I do he's not dead!"

My vision goes black, I hear a scream and a thud against the wall. When I come back to my senses I have a sword jammed into my chest and I'm pinned into my wall. My mother laying on the ground holding her arm looking at me in pure horror. With quivering breaths I look down to the sword pinning me to the wall and to the person who held it, Zeiyo.

"**Why'd you attack Mistress Diya, Aydub?! She's your mother!"**

"Heh, d-don't make me laugh Zeiyo, I haven't had a real family in years...Ack!" I cough out blood.

"**This is your real family Ay, don't forget that. They love you as much as anyone, now snap back into your senses and be the real Ay!"**

My head drops down and I start to laugh silently.

"**A-are you crying?"** Zeiyo asks me.

I throw my head back and laugh maniacally filling the house with the horrifing sound. Pulling the sword from my chest I throw it out the window and stand, my blood splattering on the ground with every breath. Hishima walks in and screams, "Ay! Are you alri-" Her sentence cut short from my hand crushing her throat. A smile spreads across my face, this thrill...something I have never felt before. Laughing even more I throw Hishima's limp body next to my mother's, one after another my friends try to stop me but they all fail. My insane laughter blocks out any other sound, anything else that was heard before is drowned. Stepping towards my friends and my mother I pick up Hishima's claymore, which she dropped, and raise it above my head...I'm ready to just kill them all. Right when I bring the sword down it's ripped from my hands and a hand slams the back of my head into the wall. Everything begins to layer in red, the last thing I see is Kim standing infront of my holding the sword. Her mouth moves but no sound comes out. My vision finally fades.

Faint voices talk back and forth from somewhere in the room.

"Diya, he's obviously not very stable, you may need to..."

"No...I'm not going to take away my baby boy, even if he isn't well... like he used to be."

"Mom, I'm worried about him, why is he acting like this?" _Koriko?_

"Ms. Light, the kid is a Dark Knight, there is no guarantee that he's been sane for these past few months."

"Chi shut up. Look ma'am, just realize that you may need to keep him somewhere where he can't hurt anyone."

"No! He'll stay with me! I'll take him with me anywhere I go. I-"

"Listen Grandma, he tried to kill you. Of all people he could have killed, he tried to kill his own mother. I don't know about you but I'd keep away from the psycho."

I try to block out the sound, from Chisuey to Kana, Koriko to Kim, my mother to Dilys. Listening to them talk makes me realize how unstable my mind really has been. My family, my friends, my life, it had all fallen apart piece by piece. My mind in a fuzz everything seems to start running back from when Diya and Zero found me sitting in the forest alone holding the robe of my father who'd left me to going to Craig to learn how to become a Paladin. Drifting back into sleep a sharp pain surges across my chest and I scream in pain clutching my chest, blood spilling out of my mouth. A clamor of chairs and a rumble of footsteps run over to my side and start trying to help me. Kim's voice speaks up, "Just leave him. The guy isn't going to die so just leave him."

My mother starts, "Kim we have to-"

"Ha..." I manage to say, "So damn mighty huh? You just can't wait for me to roll over and croak. If you want me dead why don't you kill me, c'mon be an assassin no...a murder and just kill me already." I give her a look telling her to do it. Seeing her face twist into rage and confusion she grabs her wand.

"Kim don't! Don't kill my baby!"

"He challenged me Diya now step aside!" Shoving my mother out of the way she grabs the neck of my shirt, everyone stands still, "Quick and painless or should I just make you suffer?"

A laugh escapes my mouth, followed by a small trickle of blood down the side of my mouth, "Whatever satisfies you more...fomor."

Her eyes become fierce and she throws my body out the window, the sound of the glass cracking and of my body hitting the ground make me... more evil? I roll up onto my feet and look up at the broken window, Kim standing in the pane.

A chuckle from my own mouth seems to beckon to Kim to fight me further, "Well?! Is that all you have! Fomors are even more pathetic than I remembered!"

Ice bolts, fire bolts, and lightning swirl around me, all missing their target. A slight whip of my hand and Kim falls down. I'm not a dark knight...no I'm different.

"Well is that it?! I knew it I kn-"

"That's enough Aydub!" There stands Silas holding his bright golden claymore above his head. His hands shaking, his eyes on the brim of crying, "Stop!! What the hell happened to you man!?"

"Don't make me laugh! You idiots have nothing to say got it! All you need to do is sit down an d- GAH" A familar teal blur punches my stomach and holds me in a choke hold. His regal voice reminds me of the guy who killed me, "Sheesh, I leave you alone and you almost kill your family? I really should have killed you when I had the chance Aydub."

I try gasping for air but its to restricted, "Wh-wha...D-do you.. want Royan..." A tap on the head tells me a heavier blow is comming.

"Oh you know twerp." A blow to my back sends me to the ground and paralyzes me. All I can hear is Royan's faint voice, "This should help you out," his hand touches my back and I feel calm almost as if something had been cast from me.

_Just kill me already...._

* * *

HOLY CRAP i haven't written for a while XD MY BAD school's been a bitch _

.


	14. Perhaps he's alive?

_~*~*~*~Royan's PoV~*~*~*~_

_You stupid kid...You stupid stupid kid..._

Rubbing my forehead I think about what happened. How Ay tried to kill his mom, how I tried to seal away his blood thirsty self, how he's so confused.

Ay's body lies there in his bed, washcloth on his forehead and his shallow breathing.

I thought the silence would be everlasting until I hear the door creak open and a small girl's voice is heard, "M-mister...how do you know my big brother?"

I turn my head to see a small girl with a tiara in her hair, a blue rose laced through it, "He's something like a business partner. You said big brother didn't you?"

She nods her head.

"I didn't know he had any blood siblings," I scratch my head while looking down at Ay.

"We aren't blood rewated... or something. Mommy and Daddy adopted him like Koriko." Her small feet make way for the bed. As puts her hands onto the bed I see Ay move slighty and she backs up, a frightend look on her face.

I'm worried for the kid, her brother almost did kill their mom after all. I sigh and try to reassure her, "He's not going to hurt you, kiddo, I promise."

She clings onto my leg and whispers, "Please make my big brother better..." Her voice was quivering. I know one thing to do, but it might end up killing me in the process. My hand pats her head while I turn to look at Ay.

_Please...please don't kill me._

Placing my hands, thumbs on the middle of his forehead, middle fingers touching his temples I focus to try to help him. I hear the girl's voice calling out, "Mister? Mister???" Her voice starts fading, "Mister...?"

A large darkish room surrounds me, two figures are seen in the middle of the floor. I...can't make them out. Stepping closer I find that its Ay and himself. The Ay that I saw is in the clutches of the other, clad in black clothing head to toe.

"Hey! Let go of him!" I shout. The black clothed Ay looks at me with blood red eyes, "Not a chance Royan. Now why don't you be a good guy and get the hell out of my mind?"

"In your freakin' dreams!"...I realized how true that was. Ay drops,himself I guess, and runs over to me.

_Crap._

He's a better fighter than me but none of his attacks hit me. I block and punch him square in the face. He barely moves. Sweeping his feet under him he knocks me straight off my feet and onto my back. Right when he's about to choke me I grab his head and chant, "Ir na koa ne, che ral keh!" A bright flash of light blinds us both and I move him off of me. I roll up onto my feet and stare down at the "evil" Ay, "Now lets see you get out of th- NO FREAKIN' WAY!" He jump up and uppercuts my chin, "Get the hell out of my mind!"

My head jerks up and I fall backwards out of my chair causing the girl to scream. Ay sits straight up in his bed, awoken. I lay sprawled on the ground clutching my jaw.

_DAMN IT ALL TO CICHOL HE CAN HIT HARD!!!_

"Wh-what ... ugh my head." Ay groans and falls onto his back on the bed.

Looking up at him I mumble, "Your head? Your the one that just mentally punched my damn jaw..."

"MOMMY!!!!" The girl scream and runs out the door. I assume Ay and I can hear her, "AY'S AWAKE AND THE MAN JUST FELL DOWN!"

We both flintch as we hear a loud crash and rapid footsteps approaching the room.

The door flings wide open and two fomor kids and Diya stand in the frame.

Diya screams out, "What'd you do to my baby!?"

I can't find the words and I end up studdering, "D-Diya! I didn't do anything honest!!"

"You better be honest or I'll whoop your butt into next year!"

"Jeeze, cool your jets Grandma, Ay looks fine." The fomor girl says.

"Diya, who are they anyway?" The young boy asks.

Sheesh...What is this a family of fomors? I can't hear what Diya says to the young boy but I look back up to see Ay. I think he's asleep again.

Placing my feet underneath myself I stand up and walk out the door. My bag sits next to the couch in their living room so I find a chance to sit down and read. The book I grab reads in a forgein language, "Cer Kaje lai"

Flipping through the pages I read through my book and I feel a small tug at the brim of my pants. Moving the book aside I can see Ay's little sister...What was her name again? Yuki...Yeah there we go!

"What's up Kiddo?"

I can see her face lighten up, "Can you read me that story?" She points to my book and I laugh lightly.

"I don't think you'd understand it, lets grab your favorite book?"

Her head moves up and down quickly and her patter of footsteps run to her room and back. In her tiny little hands she holds a picture book, "Read me this one!"

I take the book in my hands and open it up to read it to Yuki.

~*~*~*~*Diya's PoV*~*~*~*~(SHE LET ME DO THIS NO ONE RAG ON ME! XD)

"Ugh, to much flour.." I set the pot down and the failed concotion of a cake into the sink. My mind starts to drift back to memories of when Zero tried to help me make a cake, we almost burned down the house!

Just when I'm about to fall into a complete daze I can hear Yuki's sqealing and running. Curious I poke my head into the door frame of the living room and see her sitting there on Royan's lap and him reading her the book I bought her. Her eyes start to blink lazily and she falls asleep. Royan looks down and reads a little bit more to make sure she's asleep.

_He's acting so much like Zero...except for the dorky sound effects._

He picks my small daughter up and carries her like a baby into her room. I instantly fell into the routine that Zero and I had, I follow after him. When I look through the crack in the door I see that he already set Yuki down into her bed and tucked her in. I can barely hear his voice.

"Have sweet dreams, angel."

For a second I can see my husband instead of Royan, causing me to stand there like a weird stalker.

"You have a knack for kids," I complement him while strolling next to him, viewing the sleeping girl.

He jumps slightly, but silently. His whisper barely audible, "Jesus, Diya give me some signal before talking to me." A small chuckle follows.

Laughing i move the his other side, "Sorry, I didn't know. Next time I'll bring some champane, put on my black underwear and ask you to sleep in my bed. Is that a good enough signal?"

He stiffles a laugh and covers his mouth, "haha, if I didn't already know you were married I'd say, 'That'd be fan-freaking-tastic."

"Oh really? I got some divorce papers in my closet, how good are you at forging signatrues?" I question as I wiggle my eyebrows suggestivley and grin like a cat.

"heh, your an odd one aren't you?" A playful smile spreads across his already apparent smirk.

"Psfht. Odd only means your infatuated with me. But who can blame you? My kids are wonderful, they just make you love us all."

Yuki moves a bit and I cover my mouth, forgetting for a minute that she was even in the room.

Royan brushes Yuki's hair gently with his palm, "you are an awful lot like my wife, so, "He turns his head towards me, "I guess who can blame me?"

I can't help the smile on my face as I push him off the seat a bit and occupy the small room, "You remind me of my husband. Even how you touch my kids," I smoothe the blanket, "is it because you have your own little demons?"

The smile quickly dissapears from his face, "Well, I had a little 'demon' I guess."

"I'm sorry" Gently laying my head on his shoulder, "what happened?"

he sighs, "I...we actually were attacked by fomors. My wife left me after my little girl died."

"What?" I shout quietly, "I can't believe it!"

A small laugh escapes his mouth, "yeah, suprised me too..." He looks over to me, "Lets move out of the room."

Agreeing, I lead him pass the living room which was suprisingly empty. Considering that the house is overcrowded. Until we reach the kitchen where I try to resume my baking.

"So...."

"So...?" He asks leaning on the counter.

Rolling my eyes, "Tell me more! Its hard to carry a conversation with a person who I know nothing about...yet he seems to know a lot about my son."

"Heh, well I was actually a farm guy up until a few years ago."

"Farming?" Raising an eyebrow, "wow, wasn't expecting that. I thought maybe a guard or something. Why did you stop?"

"Well," He paused and sighed briefly, "after my wife left me I kinda felt that I didn't need to do much, so I left and became a bounty hunter."

I give him a bowl full of stuff and a spoon, "Turn that. And what? You plan to kill the fomors that attacked your family?"

He mixes the stuff, "Nah... my little girl is gone, I know that."

"Have you ever thought of having another family?" I sit on the counter, checking the cooking book.

"...Not really, I'm almost 30 and it seems to me I'm incapable of being married again."

My eye twitches, "What are you trying to say? People that age can't marry again? Cause for your information! You can marry even when your fifty! If you really try to find that special someone again...just some words of advice." I snatch the bowl from his hand and start kneeding the dough.

I can see he's somewhat stunned, "Actually, I just don't think I'm really the husband type. I'm always out doing things. Hell, I can't even stay in bangor longer than 5 days without running off to Emain Macha or to the dock."

"Become a hermit. Hell, if Nele can get a girlfriend I believe anyone can!"

As his hand meets his forehead he starts laughing, "You are one of a kind you know that, Diya?"

I flip my hair, "You haven't met my family then. I rub off on my own kids! We're an 'odd' group."

Turning his back to me he puts his hands on the counter.

Curiousity getting the best of me, I stop kneeding for a minute, "Royan?"

He starts laughing which, actually, scares the crap out of me, "You guys REALLY are an odd group!"

I suck my teeth and rolls my eyes, even put my hands on my hips, "If you keep noticing stuff that slow, you'll never survive a night here."

His laughing doesn't subside, "I just mean, its kind of nice seeing a family that actually has some conflict. You guys really are just... just like blood related. Your husband was a lucky man, Diya."

A bitter smile grows on my face, "yeah...He was definately one of a kind, I think you two would have gotten along perfectly. You remind me of him, except less corny. Which isn't a bad thing, " I laugh at the thoughts of one of his jokes.

"You know, when I was in Iria, I met this guy who I thought seemed really familiar... Diya, what was your husband's name again?" His fingers comb his hair.

"Zero," I say plainly, "Thought it's a fairly common name. My brother even has that name."

He scoffs, "That moron, never could keep his nose out of the warriors..."

My ears twitch, "You know a Zero who's obsessed with the warriors?"

"If we're talking about the same Zero, he's about my height, little shorter. Black hair and red eyes. Makes a lot of dirty jokes?" His head tilts to the side.

"Oh my god! That sounds just like him! Where'd you see him again?" I cough out.

"First time I met him was in Math dungeon, taking notes on if any assasins had been there. Second was down in Dunbarton, he was talking to Aeria. Then I'm not sure about the third time but...I met an elf, sounded just like Zero, acted just like him...Made the same retarded jokes that made me laugh."

He snaps his fingers, "he talked about you a lot too come to think of it."

I grab the rolling pin as I felt something inside me snap.

"That...NO GOOD SON OF A WITCH!" I scream and slam the pin on the dough.

"How sure are you that this is him?" Already I'm taking off my apron and Zeiyo comes running into the room.

"_**What is going on?!"**_

"D-Diya calm down!!!" His arms flail.

"I'm going to slit Zero's throat when I find him! I'm even blaming him for Ay's problem! If he was here then I wouldn't be failing as a mother!"

"Diya... if the elf is Zero, then he said he'll come back soon... As for Ay, "His voice trails off, "Thats because of the Dark Knight."

I growl and continue beating the dough, "Yes but if Zero was here then I could stay home like I used to. Then I bet that would have at least helped! He started becoming distant when I started spending my time at the Church. Now these favors I do and journies I have...It takes so much time away from me...Do you know how horrible it is when everyone wants to kill your son? He's the closest things I have to my husband."

Zeiyo looked around cluelessly, "_**What have I missed?"**_

Royan glares at Zeiyo, "nothing but your mistress almost breaking the counter in two, "he sighs, "And yes, I wouldn't know, but my wife was the closest thing to my little girl...and she's gone."

The sword eyes the man sitting at the counter, "_**What are you doing to Mistress Diya? Why are we talking about people being gone?"**_

I stuff a cookie into Zeiyo's mouth and I hug Royan, "Sorry. Cooking and being violent helps me relieve stress. How about a cookie?"

"Su-" I jam a cookie straight into his mouth. He takes a chomp out of it and swallows, "haha, I hear ya there."

Almost dropping my jaw, "You cook?!"

His stare is blank, " Yeah, my wife couldn't cook for crap, she could burn water!"

"Hahaha! No way! Only man i know that can cook is Simon...and well, he's not really a man." I shift my eyes to the side and silently repent for was I just said.

"Simon? That weird ass creep?" He shudders and takes another bite of the cookie, "Ugh, he creeps me out SO much."

"You find that creepy? DO you know skeletons do the same dance as Simon? Now THAT creeps me out more," I nod and stuff a cookie into my mouth.

"Well I always knew he was ancient."

"Ancient and fruity. Though he is a wicked tailor! I got to see him a lot since most of my kids go to school in Dunbar."

"Wow, you have kids all over don't ya?" We both bite the cookie at the same time, "maybe we should-"

"AHHH!" A scream from Ay's room makes Royan drop the cookie and before it even hits the floor he's at the door of Ay's room.

I am right behind him but cookie still in my mouth. When I try to talk, all that happens is crumbs coming out. Instead, I scan the room for any sign of trouble.

"Aiwub?" I muffle his name.

"Chisuey! What the hell are you doing?!" Royan shouts.

"Well, obviously I'm sitting on the idiot's back, are you THAT blind?"

~*~*~*Aydub's PoV*~*~*~

"Ay? Dude are you awake?" A hand shakes me.

"mmm...f-five more minutes mom..." I roll over on my side.

"Mom? DUDE WAKE UP!!!" The guy grabs me and toss me onto the floor and sits on my back. Its all really shocking so I end up screaming, that and my back hurts like hell so him sitting on it DOES NOT HELP!!

The door bursts open and I hear Royan, "Chisuey! What the hell are you doing?!"

...He's on my back?

"Well, obviously I'm sitting on the idiot's back, are you THAT blind?" heavy sarcasim in his voice.

"Ch-Chi get off of my back your going to break it!!!" my back in agonizing pain.

I shove him off my back and try to stand up, but fail. As soon as my knees give away I crash into the hard floor boards, "Ay!" My mom cries out. As soon as her hands touch my back I push them away, "No! I-I mean..." Ignoring the unfinished sentence I manage to crawl back into my bed and roll over to my side.

"Kid, maybe we should talk about his," Royan asks and I hear him sit on my bed, because it slumps down.

My head shakes, "We can talk about it later...Okay?"

I hear the shuffle of feet going out my door way.

_Why don't I just leave..._

* * *

_FYI pplz~ My story is in future tense of Diya's story. So whatever happens here, wont happen for 4 or 5 chapters in hers XD So i'm gonna shut up and wait for her to catch up~_

_luffz chu all~_


	15. Lost in my own head

gah! DX *bows head in sorrow* I'M SORRY! school's been a jerk and i've been at a loss for writing T_T

But due to Riri and KT ragging on my ass to write I decided to finish :3

so HERE'S the next chapter .-. I do not guarantee to upload anytime soon.

* * *

The wind howls outside my window and the house creeks with every gust of wind. My eyes are heavy and I can barely keep them open..

_How long has it been? Hours? Days? Weeks?_

Sitting up right in the bed I shove the covers over and think in my head, "Why am I so... blood thirsty?"

I hear movement in the bed Koriko is sleeping in. He starts to sleep talk, "But I don't want those cookies... I want those cakes..."

Nothing seems to be making me laugh anymore, nothing seems to be... making me happy. Ignoring the fact I slide over and step out of bed.

_How can I stop this urge?_

I can hear raccous laughter sounding in the den through the hallways, Mother and Royan. Without realizing it I start to grind my teeth.

_Why is this pissing me off so much?_

I open my door slightly and lean against the frame to hear.

"Gah Diya stop your going to kill me!" Royan yelping in laughter and pain as my mother tickles him.

"No! You are so dang funny, your more ticklish than Koriko!"

Stepping outside the door my mother and Royan stop. With a lot of concern in her voice my mother questions, "Ay, are you alright?"

"Fine."

"Do you need anythi-"

"I said I'm _fine"_ Obviously shocked by the tone of my voice my mother quiets down and lets me walk outside.

The sunlight hits me like an arrow shooting through a leaf. The wind seems to pass through me, not chilling me down in the least bit.

Giggling comes from behind the house, I can hear Silas, Hishima, Yuki, and Starlin.

As I close the door Yuki runs from the side of the house shouting, "Big brother!" She immediately tackles me, but doesn't force me to the ground.

Her head nuzzles my leg and she looks up with a brief look of glee then it turns to confusion, "Aren't you happy to see me...?" I can already tell that she's going to cry.

Not knowing what to say I simply pat her head with my hand and give her a somewhat monotone answer, "Sorry, Yuki, I'm not feeling like myself."

Her hands pry themselves from my leg and she steps back letting me walk to the dock. Before I step onto the wooden planks Hishima's voice is heavy with crying, "What happened to you?"

A brief moment passes.

"You were so full of life... fun...and happiness, Aydub. What in the name of Morrighan happened?"

"Cheh, you know full what happened. Stop pestering me about it and leave me be..."

"You're such a jerk!" A rock hits the back of my head, I don't flintch, "You should at least care about your family!!"

"Why do you care so damn much?" I jam my fists into my pockets.

"Why do I care?! YOU INSENSITIVE JACKASS!" A fist hits my head causing me to stumble foreward, "I'm your girlfriend and your friend! I almost have to care!"

Something snaps and I turn around to grasp Hishima's neck. Pretty bluntly I answer, "Then don't consider yourself either of those, I don't need friends." With great force I throw her into the pond. I can see her struggling to the dock through my periphriels, an insane smirk spreads across my face and I walk away. Hishima's distant cries become less audible as I walk further away.

_Why did I just do that?_

~*~*~*~*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Aydub?" Duncan calls to me.

"Yeah?" I look up at the grey haired man and smile.

"I want to give you something that your father left for you, i think you are old enough to have it now." He leads me into his little house.

The clean scent of flowers permeates the room and the weird cat he owns sits on his rocking chair.

Duncan pulls out a box, pretty long, and hands it to me, "He wanted you to have this, Aydub."

Curiously I open the box and it reveals a pure white bow, it seems to illuminate the room, "Whoa..."

"He always knew you had a knack for archery due to you shooting that sling-shot everywhere."

I look down and to the side embarrased by my regular pranks on the village folk. I always hung out in tree and shot acorns, balled up grass, branches, pebbles, anything at them and confused them. It was really fun.

"Now I don't want you shooting this at anyone except enemies, you understand?"

My eyes close and I smile, "Yessir!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~End~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I walks behind Duncan's house and recal that fond memory of the old man, and perhaps one of the things that I remember my father by.

_Dammit... dammit dammit!!_

With blind anger I punch the closest thing to me, the tree. It nearly breaks in half and I jump back in suprise.

"Wow, you are much strong from the little boy I used to know, Ay." Duncan's cheery and laughter filled voice calls behind me.

I scoff, "Surpised you remember when I was a kid..."

"Of course I do, you are like my grandson and I do not like to miss out on them growing up." He places a hand on my shoulder, "you're confused aren't you?"

"Maybe..."

"Come into my house then, you can tell me." Duncan pushes me along til I'm seated in a chair near the mantle of his fireplace.

_I guess it couldn't hurt to talk to him..._

Almost spacing out thinking I see a mug infront of my face. I raise an eyebrow with confusion and Duncan shoves it into my hands, "its your favorite tea, I still remember you know."

"Right right..." I take a sip and feel warm, nothing more soothing then chamomile tea.

"Now, Ay, I know some of what is going on, but I want to know more. Can you tell me?" He sits down and crosses his legs while folding his arms on his lap.

"Sure..."

I start telling Duncan practically everything about when I finished my paladin training in secret to where I came home.

He nods his head and asks me, "you really do not feel like yourself, don't you?"

My hands tighten around the mug, "..."

"I see. Aydub, you feel like you need to do these things, but you don't." He starts, "You do have will power, more than anyone combined in this entire village. Don't let that thing consume you."

"..." I glance down looking at the hardwood flooring.

_You're a bit to late for that..._

"Now show me a bit of the Aydub I know! You were the happiest kid I knew, or rather I should say know." The floorboards creak as he shuffles over to the chair i'm sitting on.

A light nudge on my shoulder and a pat on my head he tells me, "you haven't lost, keep fighting till you- ACK!" Loud and audible enough to hear across the entire village Duncan slams through the housing side and down the hill. People fill where the man is thrown on the ground questioning, worrying, fearing the worst.

A devilish smirk spreads across my face as I walk out of the house and silently slip by the crowd.

_No use hiding it, better just be who I am now, not who I was._

Finding my way back to the house I step inside to be greeted by a suprise hug attack.

Yuki's childish face looks up at me, her tiara falling off her head, "Big brother! Where were you?"

"Out..."

"Where??"

"I just said," I pry her from my legs, "Leave me alone.."

As my hand grasps the door handle a fist punches my shoulder, "Talk now." A quick tug of my long hair and my mother drags me to her room.

"What is it?" I question brushing out the knots in my hair.

"What is it? WHAT IS IT?! Boy you better be happy i'm not gonna slap you!" Her fire-quick temper already provoked.

"If you're going to slap me then go for it, I don't c-" My mom slaps me, hard across the face. my head jerks over and I keep my footing. Feeling somewhat triumphant I straighten up, ignoring the stinging on my cheek.

"What the hell is wrong with you? This is not like you, Ay..." her voice starts to break, tears on the verge of spilling from her eyes, "Y-you tried to kill me, Hishima, and whoever else. Now you're acting distant, wh-what is wrong with my son...?"

"..."_does it matter anymore?_

My mother's tears quickly turn from sorrow to anger as she grabs me by the shoulders, "What happened? Tlel me right now or I'll...I'll...I'll ground you!"

"...Tch," I slap her hands away, "you know damned well what happened, you're one of the causes."

"Me?" her voice all ready cracking a few octives. "So you're going to blame me for what?... It's my fault that your father left?" She walks over to the desk and rests her hands on it, "is that what you're going to blame me for now?"

"I never said you were the reason_ he_ left," I brush off my shoulders, "simply just, I don't think I learned much from you to begin with so I guess I never quite learned how to act."

_Really....?_

"Bullshit! You better think up another excuse 'cause that one isn't working!" She throws her hands onto the desk loudly causing it to echo in the room. Her face stares straight at me, "the minute Zero showed me you, I've raised you all to h ave respect...hell, this village raised you! Duncan was probably the only father you've really had after Zero...and yet...and yet you almost killed him! That wasn't my teachings... sure there are a lot of things I never taught you, I've come to accept that and..." She sighs, "And I probably didn't get to spend as much time with you as I wanted, but my son wouldn't -dare- raise his hand to me. You've changed into something that isn't my fault!" Her voice breaks.

"Sure, then why wouldn't I tell you that I became a paladin seceretly? Why wouldn't I tell you I had the dark knight armor? Why wouldn't I tell you I was hiding? You'd think if a kid had more trust in a parent they'd tell them, but i guess that wasn't apparent. As for the old man? Who cares, he's way past his due date," I cross my arms while leaning against the wooden door.

"...You know, I guess I can't answer those questions. Sometimes kids are just...just stupid!" With one swift movement a rather decently powered icebolt hits my shoulder follwed by a sudden warm rush as she pulls me into a tight hug, "I'm sorry! I don't know why you had to hide anything! What should I have done? Hold you close and never let you leave? Be afraid that everytime you walk out the house that you might never come back? I wanted you to be happy and I thought smothering you would stop that... is it...is it really _all_ my fault that things turned out like this?"

My shoulders slacken, I feel a bit sad for the first time, it's not hysteria or thrill but sadness, "A mother's touch is said to relieve even the most stressful situations." I heave a heavy sigh. Her breath freezes my shoulder due to the mix of tears and melting ice from the icebolt, as she hugs me her soft voice is muffled, "It feels good though.... at least you're still here...with me and your family."

"Honestly...? You're probably even more idiotic than I first thought. You'd think you would have learned by now, but you haven't; I find it hysterical. Heh...hehhe...hahaha!" At first my lauther starts low and controled but it spirals out into a manical laughter even the most insane people would cower at.

_What the hell is going on with me? This urge... why does it tempt me..._

Against my neck, I feel my mother smile as she nuzzles her head, "I'm sorry but this was a mother to son conversation. I don't remember inviting rejected armors to butt in. So let Ay out of whatever mental cage he's locked up in."

"You really are in denail...hehe...but as it turns out this is who I am now, no part of this is the armor."

My mother walks over to the bed and takes a seat, rubbing her eyes, "I think the only time my son was actually talking to me was when I hugged him. I'm at fault for some things but Ay is still my child. Somethings I know, like him hitting me was obviously you. I didn't get it until now, I could feel the change."

"Aw, I'm hurt mother." My head tilts to the side and my face plasters with a demented smirk, "but seriously, if you know how chaotic my mind was you'd understand...or maybe...since you are so incompetant you wouldn't understand any bit of it." I shrug my shoulder, "But who knows?"

My mother's hand twitches as she glares,"I'm note _your_ mother. I don't even know what to call you, I think it seems appropriate. I'm sure you don't even _have_ you're own mind so don't challenge my intellect. At least I don't have to feed off people like a parasite." She seems to be hurt but her persona says otherwise, her hand twitch gave it away almost imediately.

_Is she right? Who is talking right now... me or him?_

"Geh..." I hold the right side of my head closing my eyes, "Sometimes, I almost feel like you know what you're talking about, at other times... hell I'm not ever sure of myself anymore." I smack the side of my head lightly.

She stands up beginning to draw closer, "That's stupid silly. Well, I have a son named Aydub Light who likes eating whatever I cook, being read to sleep and expecially loves hugs from lil' sisters."

"It's..." my voice beings to choke, "sigh, why try and tell you." I step back trying to avoid her.

She smiles sweetly and concerned while stepping forward, she pulls me into a tight hug, "Cause if not me, then who?"

"it's apparent you don't even trust your own son," i place my hand in the middle of my chest, "believing it's some stupid armor that has already lost its powers from binding with me...and who? I don't know anymore..."

She stares at me for a moment, the most silent and terrifying moment I've ever seen her fall into. Not a moment too soon she sighs and slaps my arm shocking me, "Trust? if I didn't trust you, I would have locked you up the minute Hishi kissed you! And I believe that the armor is inside you...you might not even notice it but I know my son. he wouldn't harm the people he loves...but Kim is another story!" She laughs lightly.

A few pieces of hair fall infront of my eyes and my head lowers. No respone or movement... I feel like breaking down, but soemthing is preventing me, is it my damn pride? What can I say to hint I'm having issues trying to find some way to explain my ***ed up behavior? Nothing seems to be in the right anymore. My hands clentch into fists and my eyes shut tight, what can i do? How can I become the kid I once was?

"Also," She cups my face and kisses my forehead, "Common sense is to tell your mother anything. Cause no matter what, I'll be there. Even if you're twenty, kids deep, broke, and feel as if the world is out to get you! Good mothers are willing to give up their legs to help! And...if you don't want to tell me... you got siblings, hell you have some pretty nice friends. I'm sure they would listen...and if not, there's always me! So sit down, rest your feet and lets talk tomorrow!"

My head nods slowly, everything starting to fade black. Am I starting to black out or just slip out of this place? I don't feel anything but I hear a loud thud and scrambling footsteps combined with a worried mother's voice. Can't I just sleep forever and forget my troubles...


End file.
